Hong Kong rebuffs foreign interference

HONG KONG, April 8 (UPI) -- A Hong Kong official Thursday asked foreign governments not to get involved in the city's political dialogue with Beijing, which he said was an internal affair.

Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam made the comment after the United States and Britain issued statements expressing concern over the National People's Congress interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law on Tuesday.

"This appears to us to erode the high degree of autonomy which is guaranteed under the terms of the Joint Declaration and which underpins Hong Kong's stability and prosperity," British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said in a statement on the ruling.

The Joint Declaration, signed in 1984 between Beijing and London in advance of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, promised the territory a high degree of self-rule.

"We fully understand that foreign governments and foreign investors are keenly interested in Hong Kong's development," Lam said. "At the same time ... we need to be left on our own to resolve these complex issues within our community."

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli had earlier said the United States supports a "fully autonomous and open society" in Hong Kong, prompting Beijing to decry U.S. interference in Chinese affairs.