Hong Kong (CNN) A diplomatic spat between the UK and China deepened Wednesday after London summoned the Chinese ambassador over what it said were "unacceptable and inaccurate" comments made by Beijing regarding the UK's role in ongoing Hong Kong protests.

Beijing has hit out at the UK over accusations of "interference" in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, after British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt expressed support for Hong Kong protesters and said London would stand by the city in preserving its limited democratic freedoms

Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers have taken to the streets in recent weeks over a proposed extradition bill with China critics fear would be used to go after political dissidents. On Monday, student protesters stormed and briefly occupied the city's legislature , causing widespread damage to the building and its contents before retreating in the face of a large police clearance operation.

Referencing the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 which governs the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule, Hunt said on Tuesday that "there will be serious consequences if that internationally binding legal agreement were not to be honored."

"The UK signed an internationally binding legal agreement in 1984 that enshrines the 'one country, two systems rule,' enshrines the basic freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and we stand four square behind that agreement, four square behind the people of Hong Kong," added Hunt, who is campaigning to be the next British Prime Minister.

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