LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government has summoned China's ambassador for a dressing-down after Beijing officials accused Britain of meddling in Hong Kong's affairs.

The Foreign Office says Ambassador Liu Xiaoming was summoned Wednesday over "unacceptable and inaccurate" comments relating to Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests.

Liu accused British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt of interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and supporting "violent lawbreakers."

And Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Hunt was "basking in the faded glory of British colonialism and obsessed with lecturing others."

Hunt has condemned vandalism by some protesters but said people in Hong Kong, a former British colony, fear "their basic freedoms are under attack."

After the ambassador's comments, Hunt tweeted that "good relations between countries are based on mutual respect and honoring the legally binding agreements between them."