China warns of 'resolute response' over possible UK sanctions over Hong Kong

LONDON -- Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming on Sunday warned that if the British government imposes sanctions on any individual in China over Hong Kong, China will make a "resolute response" to it.

He made the remarks in an exclusive live interview on BBC's Andrew Marr Show, answering a question regarding China's reaction if the Magnitsky act is used to ban individual Chinese people from British territory and reports that the extradition treaty between Hong Kong and Britain is going to be torn up.

"We never believe in unilateral sanction," Liu said. "We believe that the UN (United Nations) has the authority to impose sanctions."

The senior diplomat said that the United States has sanctioned Chinese officials and China in turn sanctioned their senators and officials.

"I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China and the US happen in China-UK relations," he said. "I think the UK should have its own independent foreign policy rather than to dance to the tune of Americans, like what happened to Huawei."

Talking about Britain's recent drastic policy change regarding the Chinese tech giant, Liu called it "a very bad decision."

"It's a dark day for China-UK relations ... you will miss the opportunity to be a leading country," he said.

He stressed that there is no hard or solid evidence to say Huawei is a risk to Britain.

China does not want to politicize the economy, Liu added.