Pro-Beijing Groups Protest Outside US Consulate

Pro-Beijing activists protested outside the US Consulate in Central on Saturday, accusing Washington of interfering in China's internal affairs.

Two small groups staged separate demonstrations outside the complex on Garden Road, even though the consulate is closed at weekends.

The protesters said they were angry about US President Donald Trump's plan to start withdrawing his country's special economic treatment of Hong Kong and to punish officials over the national security law to be imposed on the SAR by Beijing.

One of the protesters held up a caricature of Trump with a bottle of bleach attached, apparently mocking him for his suggestion that injecting disinfectant could cure people of the coronavirus.

Disinfectant manufacturers and health experts had to issue warnings urging people not to inject or consume such chemicals following the US leader's remarks.

Another group, meanwhile, declared that China would not succumb to bullying by the United States ever again, and it urged other countries to stand up to Washington as well.