BEIJING: China said on Monday that “diehard” independence supporters in Taiwan and Hong Kong were seeking to link up to hatch separatist plots, but that they would never succeed.

Dozens of pro-Beijing lawmakers walked out of the Hong Kong legislature last Wednesday to prevent the swearing-in of two pro-independence activists, setting the scene for a new constitutional crisis in the Chinese-controlled city.

Chiu Chui-Cheng, spokesman for Tai­wan’s Mainland Affairs Council, said the two had been directly elected and called on China and Hong Kong to respect the will of the public.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the “one country, two systems” model for Hong Kong had been fully implemented since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

“We resolutely oppose the Taiwan authority meddling in and interfering with Hong Kong’s implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ and words and actions that damage Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” it said in a statement.

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016