A Chinese soldier is seen in front of a banner featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping during the opening day of a naval base in Stonecutters Island, in Hong Kong, China, on June 30, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

China has called on Britain to "correct its mistakes" and promised a "forceful counterattack" to London�s unilateral withdrawal from an extradition treaty with Hong Kong.

"China will make a forceful counter-attack to the UK�s wrong actions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday. "China urges the UK to give up its fantasies of continuing colonial influence in Hong Kong and immediately correct its mistakes."

Hong Kong was a British colony before it was returned to China in 1997. The city has been governed under the "one-country, two-system" model since then.

Britain suspended its extradition treaty with the semi-autonomous Hong Kong on Monday in reaction to the enactment of a uniform national security law in the city.

China�s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin reacted to the announcement on Tuesday, calling on the UK to "stop going further down the wrong path."

He said Beijing firmly opposed the suspension of the treaty and reserved the right to react.

A spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in London also said on Tuesday that Britain "will bear the consequences if it insists on going down the wrong road."

The spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that "any attempt" to put pressure on China regarding the new national security law "will meet the strong opposition" of its people.

"Such an attempt is doomed to failure," he added.

The new security law for Hong Kong was enacted at the end of last month. It punishes crimes of secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces with sentences of up to life in prison in Hong Kong. Mainland security agencies are also officially based in Hong Kong for the first time under the law.

The introduction of the law has been criticized by Western governments. The US, Australia, and Canada have already suspended their own extradition arrangements with Hong Kong.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/19490

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