PASSING THE BUCK

China Attempts to Blame United States for Hong Kong Election Rout

Beijing is pointing the finger at Washington after pro-democracy candidates won a landslide last weekend.

As the Chinese government tries to come to terms with a humiliating set of election results in Hong Kong, it’s fallen back on a comforting tactic to avoid taking any responsibility—blaming the United States. Local elections carried out in Hong Kong over the weekend saw a landslide for pro-democracy candidates and have been widely seen as a rebuke to the authoritarian policies of President Xi Jinping and city leader Carrie Lam. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Terry Branstad, on Monday, a day after the elections. The ministry said the ambassador was warned by Chinese officials that the U.S. should “stop interfering in China’s internal affairs,” reports The New York Times. The state-run news media on Tuesday accused American politicians of harboring “sinister intentions” and encouraging disorder in Hong Kong as a way of hurting China’s international reputation. The U.S. Congress recently passed a bill to show support the Hong Kong protesters.