Biden "underscored our long-standing support for democracy in Hong Kong", the White House said in a statement.
In the first official response from Beijing, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua quoted an official as saying that the US should "proceed discreetly" to prevent damaging China-US relations.
Hong
Kong -- a former British colony which is now a special administrative
region of China -- is at a critical time of political reform and Beijing
opposes interference by any country in China's internal affairs, a
foreign ministry spokesman in Hong Kong said, according to Xinhua's
dispatch.
Lee and Chan used
their visit to Washington last week to speak out against what they
described as growing interference by Beijing in Hong Kong.
Britain returned the
financial hub to China in 1997 under a deal that granted it
semi-autonomous status and enshrined civil liberties not guaranteed in
mainland China.
China has
promised direct elections for Hong Kong's chief executive in 2017, but
many pro-democrats fear that Beijing's Communist rulers will control the
choice of candidates to secure the election of a sympathetic official.
Beijing
has ruled out demands that voters be allowed to choose which candidates
can stand for the top position, an issue which regularly sparks angry
protests.
China has previously hit out at pledges by other foreign officials to support Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists.
In
September, China described comments by British Foreign Office minister
Hugo Swire that Britain was "ready to support in any way we can" those
pressing for greater democracy in Hong Kong as "irresponsible"
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