Xi: People Trying to Split China Will Have 'Bodies Smashed'

"Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder," China's President Xi Jinping said Sunday in what was widely seen as an unsubtle warning to protesters in Hong Kong. Xi, who was on a state visit to Nepal, said "external forces that support the splitting of China can only be regarded as delusional by the Chinese people." The BBC notes that Xi has yet to directly comment on the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, "so this will be seen as a rare and strong warning."

Xi's remarks came during yet another weekend of clashes between police and protesters in Hong Kong, with at least 200 arrests made. Police say an officer was slashed in the neck in the Kwun Tong district and a remote-controlled improvised explosive device was detonated in the Mong Kok district after police arrived to dismantle a roadblock set up by protesters, RTHK reports. On the city's iconic Lion Rock peak, a 13-foot "Lady Liberty" statue erected by protesters was toppled and broken. Thousands of people are expected to attend a rally Monday night urging Congress to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. (More Xi Jinping stories.)