‘WE CAN’T GULP AND MOVE ON’

Jeremy Hunt refuses to rule out Chinese sanctions or diplomatic expulsions over crackdown on Hong Kong protests
By Christy Cooney

JEREMY Hunt has refused to rule out placing sanctions on China or expelling diplomats over the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong.
The foreign secretary said the UK couldn't just "gulp and move on" in response to the ongoing situation in the former British territory.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he woudln't rule out sanctions against China in response to the situation in Hong Kong

Protesters in Hong Kong stormed the parliament building this week

Once inside parliament, protesters raised the Union Jack.

Speaking to the BBC, he added he would not discuss any potential consequences "because you don't want to provoke the very situation you are trying to avoid".
Recent weeks have seen repeated clashes between police in Hong Kong and demonstrators.
In early June, one million people took to the streets of Hong Kong to oppose a proposed new law that would allow extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China.
Authorities in the territory have sought to suppress opposition, deploying police armed with batons and tear gas.
The change would erode Hong Kong’s judicial independence and allow China to target political opponents in the territory.
Hunt's comments come as China has accused the UK of "interfere in its domestic affairs" and having a "colonial mindset".
Hunt has been on the campaign trail to become next Tory leader and replace Theresa May as prime minister.
He is currently the underdog against former London mayor Boris Johnson.
On Monday, Hunt marked the 22nd anniversary of the end of British rule by tweeting in support of the demonstrators.
"Want to stress UK support for Hong Kong and its freedoms is UNWAVERING on this anniversary day," he wrote.
"No violence is acceptable but HK people MUST preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law, as hundreds of thousands of brave people showed today."

'JUST ANOTHER CHINESE CITY'
Hong Kong has been a semi-autonomous region since 1997, when a 99-year lease held by Britain expired.
Since then, it has been governed under a "one country, two systems" arrangement with Beijing, with its citizens enjoying broadly more freedoms than those in mainland China.
Carrie Lam, the head of the Hong Kong government, has agreed to suspend the planned extradition law, but refuses to abandon it or stand down.
Monday night saw protesters storm and occupy the building that houses Hong Kong's legislature, half the members of which are not elected but appointed by a committee accountable to Beijing.
Once inside, they sprayed graffiti on the walls and raised the Union Jack.
Martin Lee QC, a pro-democracy figure and former legislator who has helped organise the protests, said earlier this month: “If we lose this one, Hong Kong is not Hong Kong any more, it’s just another Chinese city.”
The Hong Kong government says the bill is a necessary step to fight crime, and that China is an important strategic partner, but opponents fear that it would not resist politically-motivated requests from Beijing.
The new bill would create a system for case-by-case fugitive transfers between Hong Kong and China.
Chinese state media has blamed “foreign forces” for the unrest, though did not specify who those foreign forces might be.
The protests are the first major demonstrations since the Umbrella Movement in 2014, which began amid fears that proposed electoral reforms would allow restrictions on political candidates tantamount to the screening practised by the Chinese Communist Party.

Hong Kong authorities deployed riot police earlier this month to disperse peaceful protesters