一家中国政府报纸警告称，在示威者举行新的抗议活动呼吁国际社会加大支持力度后，美国和英国都不得干涉香港持续的动荡。
本周末的行动是半自治地区反政府抗议者连续第15个周末举行示威。起初反对一项有争议的引渡法案的起义已经演变成一场更广泛的反北京运动，活动人士呼吁结束中国对这个前英国殖民地的法律和政治侵犯。
抗议已经变成越来越暴力最近几周，警察经常使用警棍、橡皮子弹、高压水枪、催泪瓦斯和胡椒喷雾来驱散人群。抗议者用盾牌、头盔、简陋的武器甚至燃烧瓶武装自己。
美国和英国领事馆已经成为示威游行在最近几周。成千上万的人挥舞着美国和英国国旗，淹没了设施周围的街道，呼吁华盛顿和伦敦做更多谴责北京和香港政府镇压示威的暴力行为。
一些抗议者举着标语牌，敦促美国立法者通过香港人权与民主交流中心这将给美国更多的手段来捍卫香港的自由和自治。这些努力在中国引起了不安，中国共产党表示，动荡是国内问题，国际竞争对手不应介入。
《华尔街日报》的社论中国日报北京政府宣传部拥有的一份报纸称，领事馆的抗议活动表明，活动分子“快智穷力竭了”
文章宣称，“孤立无援，他们别无选择，只能求助于他们以前的殖民主人和自称的自由捍卫者，寻求不仅仅是‘道德支持’的东西”。
这香港人权与民主法案将允许对被认为破坏香港自治、滥用“一国两制”协议的香港和中国官员实施制裁。自1997年该地区由英国移交给中国以来，“一国两制”协议一直存在。
这项立法还要求对香港的自治进行年度评估，以决定香港是否保留美国法律规定的优惠贸易待遇。
上周，因在2014年雨伞运动中扮演的角色而被监禁的著名民主活动家约书亚·王(Joshua Wong)会见了美国议员，为这项立法进行游说。到目前为止，两党至少有16名参议员和25名代表已经签署了共同提案，全国广播公司新闻报道。
“看起来，美国——连同其横跨大西洋的‘全天候朋友’，连自己制造的英国退出欧盟烂摊子都无法清理——像往常一样，决意要做一些愚蠢的事情，因为它已经在纽约和华盛顿为分裂主义者约书亚·王铺上了红地毯，”美国中国日报社论说。
这篇文章警告说，两国都无权“干涉中国内政，更重要的是，中国永远不会允许他们这样做。”
文章称，“如果美国立法者拒绝看到大局并通过法案，他们将朝着错误的方向迈出危险的一步，美国将为此付出沉重的代价。”
CHINA WARNS U.S. WILL 'PAY A HEAVY PRICE' IF IT HELPS HONG KONG PROTESTERS FOLLOWING MASS APPEALS AT CONSULATES
A Chinese government newspaper has warned that neither the U.S. nor the U.K. will be allowed to interfere in the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong, after demonstrators staged fresh protests calling for greater international backing.
This weekend's action was the 15th consecutive weekend of demonstrations by anti-government protesters in the semi-autonomous territory. What started as an uprising against a controversial extradition bill has evolved into a wider anti-Beijing movement, with activists calling for an end to China's legal and political encroachment on the former British colony.
The protests have become increasingly violent in recent weeks, with police now routinely turning to batons, rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse crowds. Protesters have armed themselves with shields, helmets, rudimentary weapons and even Molotov cocktails.
The U.S. and U.K. consulates have become a center for the demonstrations in recent weeks. Waving American and British flags, tens of thousands of people have swamped the streets around the facilities to call for Washington and London to do more to censure Beijing and the Hong Kong government for their violent efforts to suppress the demonstrations.
Some protesters have carried placards urging American lawmakers to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which would give the U.S. greater means to defend Hong Kong's freedom and autonomy. Such efforts prompted disquiet in China, where the Communist Party has said the unrest is a domestic issue and that international rivals should not get involved.
An editorial in the China Daily newspaper—owned by the Beijing government's propaganda department—said the consulate protests showed that the activists "are nearing their wit's end."
"Isolated, they have no choice but to turn to their former colonial masters and the self-proclaimed defender of freedom in search of something more than 'moral support,'" the article declared.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act would allow sanctions to be imposed on individual Hong Kong and Chinese officials believed to be undermining the autonomy of the territory and abusing the "one country, two systems" agreement—in place since the region was handed from British to Chinese control in 1997.
The legislation would also require an annual assessment of the territory's autonomy to decide whether Hong Kong retains preferential trade treatment under U.S. law.
Last week, famed pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong—who was jailed for his role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement—met with U.S. lawmakers to lobby for the legislation. So far, at least 16 senators and 25 representatives from both sides of the aisle have signed on as co-sponsors, NBC News reported.
"It seems the U.S.—along with its 'all-weather friend' across the Atlantic, which cannot even manage to clear the Brexit mess of its own making—is hell-bent on doing something stupid, as usual, given the way it has rolled out the red carpet for secessionist Joshua Wong in New York and Washington," the China Daily editorial said.
The article warned that neither country has the right "to interfere in China's internal affairs, and more important, China will never allow them to do so."
"If the U.S. lawmakers refuse to see the bigger picture and pass the bill," the article stated, "they would take a perilous step in the wrong direction, for which the U.S. would have to pay a heavy price."
