China's Xi warns attempts to divide China will end in 'shattered bones'

Nepal's President Bidhya Devi Bhandari welcomes China's President Xi Jinping upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal October 12, 2019. Prakash Mathema/Pool via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Sunday that any attempt to divide China will be crushed, as Beijing faces political challenges in months-long protests in Hong Kong and U.S. criticism over its treatment of Muslim minority groups.

"Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones," he told Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in a meeting on Sunday, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.