SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Several groups in the western U.S. city of San Francisco in the state of California on Tuesday slammed U.S. interference in Hong Kong affairs, urging the U.S. side to respect China's sovereignty.

During a public forum on the recent situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), which was held here on Tuesday evening, speakers called on the United States to keep its "hands off" the internal affairs of the HKSAR.

The event, co-organized by Veterans For Peace San Francisco, Chinese-Americans for Peace (CAP), and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), came a few days before U.S. Congressional committees are set to vote on the so-called "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act."

Richard Becker, west coast coordinator of the U.S.-based civil rights group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, told Xinhua that the U.S. bill is a "negative" one and is also "a very prejudicial bill against China and the authorities in Hong Kong."

"This bill is not based on the objective situation. It's based on the political will of those in Congress and in the White House, who are seeking to promote an anti-China attitude inside the United States," he said.

Becker questioned the motives of some U.S. politicians who supported the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong in the past months.

"We should take very seriously that any time a country other than the U.S. is being attacked in the (Western) mainstream media, this means that there is a foreign policy interest behind it," he added.

Rodger Scott, a labor activist with San Francisco-based American Federation-Teachers, called the bill "an intervention in the domestic affairs of a sovereign country like China."

He said the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong were supported by interventionist organizations, especially the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, which the forum speakers described as an institution funded by U.S. intelligence services.

"This country (the United States) must learn to stop destabilizing other countries' economies," Scott said.

Retired San Francisco Judge Julie Tang, who is also a founding member of CAP, spoke at the forum and exposed the true motives behind the bill.

"It's not a bill about human rights and freedom, it is not a bill about democracy," she said. "The bill is meant to stoke more civil unrest in Hong Kong, which used to be one of the safest cities in the world to live."

Kwun Wing Cheung, board member of the CCBA, told the audience that the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong undermined the city's economy and adversely impacted the livelihood of the Hong Kong people.

"The CCBA supports the HKSAR in taking steps to restore peace and stability in the region," he said.

John Feng, president of the Chung Chung Alumni Association San Francisco, told Xinhua that he has lived in the United States for more than 40 years after he immigrated from China's Macao.

He said the United States should "put its own house in order" instead of intervening in Hong Kong affairs.

"There are a lot of homeless in San Francisco and poverty is not uncommon in the United States. The U.S. government should take better care of its own people," he said.

The forum called on the American public, especially the Chinese community, to sign a petition addressed to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to veto the bill.