KATHMANDU: Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued a stern warning saying any attempt to divide China will end in ‘crushed bodies and shattered bones’.
Xi’s warning comes at a time when China faces months-long political protests in Hong Kong.
According to CCTV, China’s state broadcaster, President Xi is learned to have told Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli on Sunday during the former’s two-day state visit to Nepal that anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will face dire consequences.
Hinting at the U.S. criticism over China’s treatment of Muslim minority groups in China, Xi also warned that any external forces backing such attempts to divide China will be considered as pipe-dreaming by the Chinese people.
Reports quoted Xi as saying that China will oppose any ‘anti-China activities’ on its soil.
President Xi was on a two-day state visit to Nepal from October 12-13. He wrapped up his two-day visit on Sunday.
It should be noted that Hong Kong police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against demonstrators.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists plan a rally on Monday evening after another weekend of unrest that saw protesters hurl petrol bombs and police reply with tear gas and rubber bullets, as violence in the Chinese-ruled city shows no signs of letting up.
Meanwhile, demonstrators are planning to gather at the Chater Garden in Admiralty district today.
Demonstrators held peaceful rallies which, however, turned into chaos on Sunday as protestors and police clashed across the Asian financial hub.
Meanwhile, China is also trying to de-escalate a trade war with the United States in recent times. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has already warned any negotiations with China would be difficult if anything bad happens while handling the protestors in Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities.
Trump, on Saturday, has also discussed the Hong Kong issue with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in which they reached a ‘phase-one deal’ raising optimism for a broader agreement.
However, reports said several fundamental issues regarding the trade deal have remained unresolved and existing tariffs still not lifted.
The US has also blacklisted 28 Chinese companies last week over China’s treatment of the Muslim ethnic minorities in China.
China has faced growing international condemnation for what it calls re-education and training centers in the remote western region of Xinjiang.
Reports have said Activists say some re-education and training centers in China’s western region of Xinjiang are basically mass detention camps that hold over 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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