China warns UK it will ‘pay the price’ for poisoned relations

China said the U.K. will “pay the price” if it pursues a hostile policy toward Beijing and hinted it may block Hong Kong citizens from taking up Boris Johnson’s offer of a path to British citizenship.

The Chinese government does not consider so-called BNO British passports as “valid” travel documents, Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador in London, said in an online press conference Thursday. His comments raise the prospects that Beijing will bar almost three million Hong Kongers holding the passports or eligible for them from leaving the former British colony for the U.K.

Liu’s remarks are the latest salvo in a diplomatic spat between Beijing and London on issues ranging from Hong Kong’s new security law to China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Chinese officials have warned of “consequences” if the U.K. treats China as a “hostile” partner.

Johnson’s government has effectively re-set ties to China by banning Huawei Technologies Co. from the U.K.’s next-generation wireless networks on security grounds, and has angered Beijing with its interventions over Hong Kong and condemnation of alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang.

In turn, China has accused Johnson of acting as a puppet of U.S. President Donald Trump over the Huawei ban.

‘No Threats’

“We make no threats, we threaten nobody. We just let you know the consequences,” Liu said. “If you do not want to be our partners and our friends, you want to treat China as a hostile country, you will pay the price. That means you will lose the benefits of treating China as a friend.”

It’s all a far cry from the “golden age” in U.K.-China relations heralded by former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015. But while Johnson is under pressure from members of his Conservative Party to de-couple the U.K. economy from China, the prime minister has said he wants to continue to do business with Beijing.

Johnson says he wants a “calibrated” policy toward China and won’t be pushed into a “knee-jerk Sinophobe on every issue.”

But Liu said “London has poisoned the relationship” and risks “allowing anti-China forces and Cold War warriors to kidnap the China-U.K. relationship.”

Reaching Out?

Some of Liu’s remarks appeared directly aimed at Johnson, who rose to power on the back of the campaign to take the U.K. out of the European Union. Liu said there are “unlimited prospects” for U.K.-China cooperation after Brexit—including in financial services, science and technology, education and health care—if the U.K. chooses to take them.

“It’s hard to imagine a global Britain that bypasses or excludes China,” he said. “De-coupling from China means de-coupling from opportunities.”

Liu also denied China has committed human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, and showed videos of alleged terrorist attacks in the province.

He said camps are needed to “de-radicalize” citizens, comparing them to “boarding schools” where inmates are offered training. He accused the Western media of spreading “fallacies and lies” about the Chinese government’s actions.