HKSAR gov't criticizes U.S. consul general making skewed remarks on Hong Kong

1/8/2024 6:14

        The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday hit out at the absurd and unfounded remarks made in a media interview by U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong Gregory May on Hong Kong regarding national security and human rights.
        "The legal basis for implementing 'one country, two systems' comprises the Constitution and the Basic Law, which provide a constitutional guarantee for fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to equality before the law, and is buttressed by the rule of law and independent judicial power," a spokesperson for the HKSAR government said.
        The United States has deliberately neglected the fact that the Hong Kong national security law has enabled the livelihood and economic activities of the Hong Kong community as well as the business environment to return to normalcy, the spokesperson said, noting the U.S. move exposes its hypocrisy with double standards.
        The offenses endangering national security stipulated by the Hong Kong national security law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance target acts endangering national security with precision, and define the elements and penalties of the offenses with clarity, the spokesperson said.
        "The HKSAR law enforcement agencies have been taking law enforcement actions based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law in respect of the acts of the persons concerned, and law-abiding persons will not unwittingly violate the law," said the spokesperson.
        Previously, the Commissioner's Office of Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR has also lodged condemnations, urging the U.S. diplomat to adhere to the basic professional ethics and conduct guidelines rather than fabricating lies and attacking Hong Kong.
        There is no absolute freedom in the world, and freedom has never been borderless, unconstrained, or bottomless, a spokesperson for the commissioner's office reiterated, adding that Hong Kong has undergone profound, new changes and entered a new stage of governance and prosperity.
        "It is precisely because those with ulterior motives have lost the 'freedom' of beating, smashing, looting and burning, the 'freedom' of attacking the Legislative Council, and even the 'freedom' of colluding with external forces to oppose China and disrupt Hong Kong," the spokesperson said.
        The remarks made by the U.S. consul general on the so-called "chilling effect" are purely malicious smears on the Hong Kong national security law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, said the commissioner's office and the HKSAR government, both demanding the U.S. diplomate immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong matters which are purely China's internal affairs.