Beijing has told Washington to stop meddling in its domestic affairs and make a State Department spokesperson revise her language, after the top official tacitly referred to China as “a thuggish regime” amid protests in Hong Kong.

US Department of State spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus should “first of all reflect on her words rather than criticize and smear the Chinese government using the media reports as an excuse,” her Beijing counterpart Hua Chunying said on Friday.

We urge the US to abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs.

China believes some US diplomats are fanning anti-Beijing sentiment by making contacts with opposition leaders. In the middle of the protest, Hong Kong’s state-affiliated newspaper Ta Kung Pao ran an article disclosing personal details about an American embassy official, identified as Julie Eadeh, including the names of her children.

Leaking the diplomat’s private information “is what a thuggish regime would do,” Ortagus told a briefing on Thursday. “That is not how a responsible nation would behave,” the spokeswoman maintained.

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Expanding on Eadeh’s role in the protest, the newspaper revealed that she met with Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the secretary-general of pro-democracy party Demosisto, who frequented the anti-Chinese demonstrations. Wong himself insisted there was nothing incriminating in his meeting with Eadeh.

The latest twist in the US-Chinese war of words follows massive unrest in Hong Kong, where residents began protesting against the now-suspended extradition law that would have allowed suspects to face trial in mainland China.

The rallies, which turned violent in some instances, have snowballed into a wider movement against Beijing’s control over the former British colony.

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