Chinese and US diplomats spar over Hong Kong

BEIJING (AP) — China and the U.S. gave differing accounts of a meeting between a senior Chinese official and the U.S. ambassador, as the two countries sparred over Hong Kong.

A statement from the Chinese side late Wednesday said that Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang had summoned U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad to protest recent U.S. moves including a law to sanction officials who undermine local autonomy in Hong Kong.

Zheng said that threatened sanctions and the withdrawal of special trading privileges for Hong Kong are not about democracy and freedom in the semi-autonomous territory but an attempt to contain China's development.

“I want to warn the U.S. sternly that any bullying and unfairness imposed on China by the U.S. will meet resolute counter attack from China and the U.S. attempt to obstruct China’s development is doomed to failure," he said, according to an account of Wednesday's meeting carried by state media.

A statement posted on the U.S. Embassy website Thursday said Branstad had met Zheng the previous day to express deep American concern about Chinese decisions that erode fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.

It said Branstad explained the Trump administration's conclusion that the city of 7.5 million people is no longer sufficiently autonomous from China to merit special treatment on trade, and called on China to restore Hong Kong's liberties.

Trump signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act into law on Tuesday, as well as an executive order affirming an earlier decision to eliminate preferential treatment for Hong Kong.

The U.S and other Western democracies have grown increasingly concerned over developments in Hong Kong, and in particular China's imposition of a national security law that is seen as a threat to freedom of speech and the right to...