FILE PHOTO: The head of the Chinese delegation Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Jun delivers his opening remarks during a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference with the UN Security Council’s five permanent members (P5) China, France, Russia, Britain, and U.S., in Beijing, China, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/Pool
June 24, 2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Jun said on Monday that China will not allow the Group of 20 to discuss the Hong Kong issue at its upcoming summit.
Hong Kong matters are an internal affair for China, Zhang said at a briefing in Beijing.
Millions of people have demonstrated on the streets of Hong Kong this month to rally against a bill that would allow people to be extradited to the mainland to face trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party.
It triggered the most violent protests in decades when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Beijing’s squeeze sparked pro-democracy protests in 2014 that paralyzed parts of the city for 79 days.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Kevin Yao; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Michael Perry)