China on Wednesday expressed firm opposition to the recent comments on Hong Kong made by British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, urging him to stop wanton interference in the affairs of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

"In the minds of some people, they regard Hong Kong as still under British rule. They forget (…) that Hong Kong has now returned to the embrace of the motherland,” Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming said at a press conference held at the Chinese embassy in London.

According to The Times, Hunt said Tuesday he expected China to honor the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which was signed in 1984 when Margaret Thatcher was the British prime minister, and that "There will be serious consequences if that internationally binding legal agreement were not to be honored."

Hong Kong returned to the motherland on July 1, 1997, when the Chinese government started administering it in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law. The principle of "One Country, Two Systems" has been fully implemented since.

The Chinese ambassador said he was disappointed by the position the UK government chose to take. "It has made inappropriate remarks not only to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong but also to back violent lawbreakers."

"It even attempted to obstruct the Hong Kong SAR government from bringing the criminals to justice, which is an utter interference in Hong Kong's rule of law."

LegCo building's security, communication systems damaged

The President of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Andrew Leung said on Thursday security and communication systems in the LegCo complex have been damaged, adding that the council might not be able to use the building again until October.  

"Members of the Legislative Council Commission joined me to inspect the damages in the Legislative Council complex this morning before we held a special meeting to discuss the follow-up actions," said Leung. 

"We agreed that the priority should be given to the restoration of the complex with the view to reconvening the council meeting in October. The secretary has implemented a number of temporary measures, and we hope that the red alert can be lifted as early as next week. However, certain public services in the complex will be suspended for a longer period," he added. 

Hunt's remarks also drew criticism from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"He seems to be fantasizing in the faded glory of British colonialism and obsessed with the bad habit of criticizing and lecturing on other countries' affairs condescendingly," spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang said in response to Hunt's statement at a daily press briefing on Wednesday.

"The British side has no sovereignty over Hong Kong, nor does it have administrative power or supervisory power since its return. It has no so-called responsibility for Hong Kong at all," said Geng, calling it "sheer delusion with mawkish sentimentality" for the British side to "consider itself as a guardian."

"It is just shameless to say that the freedom of Hong Kong residents is negotiated for them by the British side," Geng said.

Geng said he wanted to remind Hunt that Hong Kong had no democracy at all during the British colonial rule, and that the Hong Kong people had not even the right to protest on streets.

In response to Hunt saying the government of the HKSAR should not use the storming of the LegCo complex by demonstrators as a pretext to "repress" its people, Geng said Hunt was calling black white since the behavior of the protesters was in violation of the law.

Stressing that Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, Geng said China advises Britain, especially Hunt, to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs as it is doomed to fail.

(CGTN's Zhang He contributed to this article.)

(With input from Xinhua)