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Hong Kong protests
ChinaDiplomacy

Washington voices ‘grave concern’ over Hong Kong clashes, calls for restraint on all sides

  • Beijing should honour the Sino-British Joint Declaration, including commitments to Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms, US State Department says
  • It urges the city’s government to engage with the public, and protesters to respond

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Anti-government protesters set fire to roadblocks disrupting traffic in Hong Kong on Monday. Photo: Felix Wong
Owen Churchill
The US State Department said it was watching events in Hong Kong with “grave concern” on Monday evening and called on Beijing to honour commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, after one of the bloodiest days in Hong Kong since anti-government protests began in June.
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Clashes between police, anti-government demonstrators and Beijing sympathisers on Monday saw one young protester shot with a live round by a police officer and a middle-aged resident set on fire by a protester during an argument. Both men were left in a critical condition.

“The United States is watching the situation in Hong Kong with grave concern,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “We condemn violence on all sides, extend our sympathies to victims of violence regardless of their political inclinations, and call for all parties – police and protesters – to exercise restraint.”

The statement said that an increased polarisation in Hong Kong society underscored the need for a “broad-based and sincere dialogue between the government, protesters and citizenry”. It called on protesters to respond to efforts at dialogue.

“We urge Beijing to honour the commitments it made in the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Ortagus said, referring to the document signed by China and Britain in 1984 that guaranteed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after its 1997 handover to China.

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