Chrystia Freeland Condemns Violence in Hong Kong, Sparking Backlash From China

A protester wearing an eye patch, after a woman suffered an eye injury which demonstrators blamed on a bean-bag round fired by police, walks along a street during a rally in Hong Kong on Aug. 18, 2019. Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

OTTAWA—Chinese officials accused Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland of “meddling” in China’s internal affairs Sunday after her weekend statement condemning violence in Hong Kong in the wake of escalating tensions between pro-democracy protesters and police.

Freeland made the remarks in a joint statement issued Saturday with her counterpart in the European Union, Federica Mogherini, urging restraint amid “a rising number of unacceptable violent incidents.”