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Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, warned that efforts to divide or destabilize China would end with “shattered bones”, as international pressure mounted over the government’s handling of protests in Hong Kong and a widespread crackdown on Muslim minority groups.

“Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones,” Xi said, according to CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster.

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“And any external forces backing such attempts dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipe-dreaming,” he was quoted as saying as he met KP Sharma Oli, the Nepalese prime minister, during China’s first state visit to Nepal in two decades.

Xi’s comments came before a potential flashpoint tomorrow, when the Hong Kong government will reconvene its legislative council. Carrie Lam, the embattled chief executive, is scheduled to give a speech, and is expected to formally withdraw the extradition bill that sparked the protests.