China and Britain wage war of words over Hong Kong

China bluntly told Britain on Wednesday to "refrain from further interference" and London summoned Beijing's embassador for a dressing down in a rapidly-escalating diplomatic feud over Hong Kong.

The protests sweeping the former British colony have also revived tensions inherent in the two sides' historic agreement on the global financial hub's handover to Chinese rule 22 years ago.

Hong Kong was meant to continue enjoying broad freedoms under the "one country, two systems" approach first adopted by China in the 1980s.

But fears and frustrations over Beijing's gradual tightening of those rules spilled over into mass demonstrations against a now-stalled draft law on Hong Kong residents' extradition to China.

They also saw UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt -- one of two candidates to become Britain's next prime minister -- take the global lead in condemning China's entire approach to its "special administrative region".

Hunt called on Beijing not to use the protests as a "pretext for repressions" and warned of "serious consequences" if China breaches the commitments it made to London decades ago.

His comments provoked a cascade of condemnations from China that began with its foreign ministry in Beijing and continued with its embassy in London.

"He seems to be fantasising in the faded glory of British colonialism and in the bad habit of gesticulating while looking down on other countries' affairs," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular briefing in Beijing.

"I need to re-emphasise that Hong Kong has now returned to its motherland."
"I do hope that the British government will realise the consequences and would refrain from further interference from further damaging their relationship."
"I want us to have the best possible understanding between two of the great countries in the world."