China protests US alert over security rules change in Hong Kong

China’s top diplomat in ​Hong Kong has met the senior U.S. ‌diplomat in the city to protest against a U.S. public alert over new security rules in Hong Kong, ​the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

In a ​statement released late on Saturday, the Chinese foreign ⁠ministry’s Hong Kong office said Commissioner Cui ​Jianchun met U.S. Consul General Julie Eadeh on ​March 27 and expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition”, urging Washington to stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs and ​China’s internal affairs “in any form”.

Hong Kong this month ​amended its enforcement rules for the national security regime, making ‌it ⁠an offence in national security cases to refuse to provide passwords or other decryption assistance to access an electronic device.

In response to the ​rule changes, ​the U.S. ⁠Consulate General in Hong Kong issued a security alert on March 26, ​calling for contact with the Consulate ​in ⁠case U.S. citizens are arrested or detained in connection with the new security enforcement rules.

“We do ⁠not discuss ​the details of diplomatic ​engagements,” a U.S. Consulate spokesperson said in response to a request ​for comment.