Chinas ambassador has warned that the UK will need to forge closer links with the country after Brexit as he attempted to persuade the Government to take a less aggressive approach on issues such as Hong Kong, Huawei and Xinjiang.

Liu Xiaoming said on Thursday there would be consequences for recent British actions, confirming that China is planning to block Hong Kong residents from travelling using their British National (Overseas) passports. It comes as multiple democracy activists have been banned from standing in the territorys election under new national security legislation.

He told a press conference: China respects UK sovereignty and has never interfered in UKs internal affairs. It is important that the UK does the same.

When Brexit is completed and Covid-19 is over, there will be unlimited prospects for UK-China co-operation in areas of trade, financial services, science and technology, education and healthcare. It is hard to imagine a global Britain that bypasses or excludes China. Decoupling from China means decoupling from opportunities, decoupling from growth and decoupling from the future.

Mr Liu claimed that the UKs decision to offer residency to 2.9m Hongkongers and scrap its extradition treaty with the territory seriously disrupted the security and prosperity of Hong Kong.

Asked if he was threatening Britain, the ambassador replied: We made no threats, we threatened nobody, we just let you know the consequences If you treat China as a hostile country, you will pay the price. He directly criticised Conservative MPs who have pushed for tougher action against China, saying they cling to the Cold War mentality.

He also confirmed that in retaliation for the British decision to allow holders of BNO passports to settle in the UK from next year, Chinas government may stop recognising the documents as a valid travel pass. Mr Liu said: We have to take our measures not to recognise the BNO passport as a valid travel document.

The press conference concluded with a series of propaganda videos designed to refute findings by Western governments that China has been herding Uighur Muslims from Xinjiang province into prison camps for re-education. The clips showed alleged terror attacks by Uighurs, followed by upbeat footage supposedly depicting Xinjiang residents who have found new jobs after spending time in the camps.

Asked whether China would allow independent inspectors to visit the camps, which are believed to be used for forced labour, Mr Liu said that any investigation would violate Chinas sovereignty.

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China's ambassador accuses UK of ruining post-Brexit relations with tough stance on Hong Kong - iNews