HONG KONG: Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong slammed US tariffs on China as “hegemonic” and attacked American “hillbillies” on Tuesday, as the world’s two largest economies face off in a trade war that has battered global markets.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, said in a speech that the Chinese finance hub has never levied taxes on imports and that the United States enjoyed a $272 billion trade surplus in the city over the past decade.
US President Donald Trump has increased the levies imposed on China to 145 percent, while Beijing has set a retaliatory 125 percent toll on American imports – a move not followed by Hong Kong.
Imposing tariffs on the city is “hegemonic and shameless in the extreme,” and shows that the United States does not want Hong Kong to thrive, Xia said.
The United States, he said, “is the greatest culprit in undermining Hong Kong’s human rights, freedom, rule of law, prosperity and stability.”
“It is not after our ‘tariffs’ – it wants to take our ‘lives’.”
Xia said the US sanctions and tariffs would not shake the determination of Beijing and Hong Kong governments and that “victory must belong to the great Chinese people.”
“Let those American ‘hillbillies’ wail before the 5,000-year-old civilization of the Chinese nation!” he said, adding that anyone seeking to bring China into poverty was an “enemy.”
The comments were part of a pre-recorded speech at a Hong Kong event to mark the 10th iteration of China’s annual national security education day.
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong after the city saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Last year, the city passed another homegrown security law, which officials say is needed to restore order.
The United States imposed a fresh round of sanctions this month on Hong Kong’s outgoing police chief, justice secretary and other officials over human rights concerns.
China’s market regulator is looking into a deal by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison to offload 43 ports in 23 countries – including its two on the Panama Canal – to a US-led consortium.
The sale was seen as a political victory for Trump, who earlier vowed to “take back” the crucial waterway from alleged Chinese control.
Echoing earlier criticisms of the deal, Xia said on Tuesday “those who sell out the nation’s interest during key moments... will not meet a good end.”
Hong Kong leader John Lee also criticized the US tariffs as “absurd,” saying at the event that the correct reciprocal levy would be “zero” as Hong Kong is a free port.
China’s top Hong Kong official warns US ‘hillbillies’ over tariffs
https://arab.news/yhskq
China’s top Hong Kong official warns US ‘hillbillies’ over tariffs
- Top Hong Kong official: Imposing tariffs on the city is ‘hegemonic and shameless in the extreme’
- Xia Baolong: US sanctions and tariffs would not shake the determination of Beijing and Hong Kong governments
German spy chief warns of Russia threat to 2026 regional polls
- Sinan Selen said hat Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy chief warned Monday that Russia could step up sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns next year when the EU’s top economy, a strong backer of Ukraine, holds several regional elections.
Sinan Selen, head of the BfV intelligence service, said in a Berlin speech that Germany was especially in Moscow’s sights because it is a central logistics hub of the NATO alliance on the continent.
Speaking later to AFP, Selen said about Russian disinformation campaigns that “we’ve repeatedly seen that elections play a very significant role here, and as you know we have several state elections in Germany next year.”
Russia is blamed by Western security services for a spate of drone flights, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and online disinformation campaigns in Europe, which have escalated since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We are being attacked here and now in Europe,” Selen said in a speech marking 75 years since the founding of the BfV, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“In its role as a logistics hub for collective defense and support of Ukraine, Germany is more heavily targeted by Russian intelligence services than other countries,” he said.
“Above all Russia, as a hybrid actor, is undoubtedly aggressive, offensive and escalating. Its intelligence services employ a wide range of attack vectors from its toolbox.
“A clear sign of a highly dangerous escalation is the preparation and execution of sabotage attacks in Germany and other European countries, for which the Kremlin is considered the primary instigator. There is no sign of any relief in sight.”
Germany next year holds five regional elections, including in the ex-communist east, where the far-right and Moscow-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hopes to make further strong gains.
Selen, speaking about hybrid threats, said that “every sector of society can be affected, and this will be especially true in the coming year.”
The course of the Ukraine war would also strongly influence the actions of Russia, which Selen said “can scale the intensity of its sabotage operations at will.”
Selen added that “this war of aggression is more than a struggle for Ukrainian territory, it is a litmus test in the ongoing systemic conflict between authoritarianism and democracy in a multipolar and complex world.”
