By WANG QINGYUN | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-10-21 19:37

A policeman tries to extinguish a barricade on fire on a highway in Barcelona, Spain, Oct 18, 2019. [Photo/IC]

Western politicians and media have a "double standard" on riots in Hong Kong and unrest in Catalonia and London, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.

Hua made the remarks at a daily news conference when a reporter asked for her comments on the "low-key or even silent" attitude Western politicians and media have for large-scale protests in the two places.

Noting the protests in Catalonia and London are domestic affairs of Spain and Britain, Hua said she hopes the issues will be solved properly within the framework of the countries' laws and institutions.

Yet Hua said the different attitudes reflect that "so-called democracy and human rights are only a sanctimonious excuse for the West to interfere in Hong Kong affairs".

A spokesman for Catalonia's regional police force said demonstrators "sometimes" use laser pointers against police in Barcelona, even though it is "very uncommon here", the Agence France-Presse reported on Sunday.

Many Catalan protestors cite the demonstrations in Hong Kong as a source of inspiration, the AFP reported.

"There can be only one standard and one attitude against riots. People playing a double standard and indulging riots will only harm others as well as themselves in the end," Hua said, adding "the show put up by Western politicians" will carry "a heavy price".