Boris Johnson: UK to be tough on China in response to Hong Kong security law.

LONDON (Reuters) - The United Kingdom will suspend its extradition treaty with Hong Kong on Monday, escalating its dispute with China over the adoption of a national security law for the former British colony, newspapers reported.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who on Sunday accused China of serious human rights violations, will announce the suspension of the treaty in Parliament, the Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers said, citing sources.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the changes would be announced later on Monday to reflect concerns about the security law, but did not specify what those changes would be.

“We have to have a measured response, and we will be tough on some things, but we will also continue to engage,” Johnson told reporters.

Raab is scheduled to speak in Parliament at 14:30 pm local time (10:30 am in Brasília).

In Beijing, when asked about the alleged suspension of extradition arrangements, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin appealed to the United Kingdom to "stop going down the wrong path."

Any decision on extraditions would be another nail in the coffin of what then-British Prime Minister David Cameron described in 2015 as a "golden age" in relations with China, the world's second-largest economy.

But London was shocked by the crackdown in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese control in 1997, and by the perception that China had not told the whole truth about the coronavirus outbreak to the world.

Last week, Johnson ordered that Huawei Technologies equipment be completely excluded from his country's 5G network by the end of 2027.

China accuses the United Kingdom of pandering to the United States. The United Kingdom, in turn, says the new security law violates guarantees of freedom, including an independent judiciary, which have helped maintain Hong Kong as one of the world's most important commercial and financial hubs since 1997.

Hong Kong and Beijing authorities have said the law is vital to fill gaps in national security defenses exposed by recent pro-democracy and anti-China protests. China has been urging Western powers to stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs.

On Sunday, the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom warned of a harsh reaction if London attempts to punish any of its officials, as some Conservative Party MPs are demanding.

"If the UK government goes so far as to impose sanctions on any individual from China, China will certainly take a resolute stance," Liu Xiaoming said on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.