Foreign interference in HK condemned
The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday strongly condemned the foreign politicians and organizations that are interfering in the HKSAR’s internal affairs through their attacks on city legislation to enact national security laws.
The office also criticized them for wrongfully accusing police of using excessive force while defending law and order.
The Liaison Office’s online statement was aimed specifically at those politicians and organizations of the United States and the United Kingdom who object to the Hong Kong proposal to enact its own national security laws.
The office emphasized that safeguarding national security is the constitutional duty of Hong Kong. This is China’s internal affair that no other country has the right to interfere in, the spokesperson added.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had openly accused Beijing on Wednesday of departing from its commitment to the “one country, two systems” principle. He said any national security legislation in Hong Kong would be in breach of the principle.
The wrongful remarks of those politicians are a serious violation of international law and the basic norms of international relations, and as such, they are another example of the brutal interference by external forces in China’s internal affairs, the spokesperson said.
The office made particular mention of the National Democratic Institute, accusing the US-based NGO of turning a blind eye to violence in Hong Kong by branding illegal protests as
“peaceful demonstrations”.
The spokesperson refuted a recent NDI report, saying it has distorted the large-scale anti-government demonstrations that have escalated into raging street violence.
The report glorified the violent acts of extreme radicals as “peaceful demonstrations”, and vilified the SAR government and the police force, which are trying to safeguard the rule of law, the spokesperson said.
The office resolutely opposes the support of violent criminals and acts that have undermined the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, the spokesperson stressed.
The central government is firmly against any interference in HKSAR affairs by external forces, and will unswervingly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests while upholding the “one country, two systems” principle, the spokesperson said.
On Thursday and Friday, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, and the SAR government expressed in separate statements their strong condemnation of foreign politicians’ unfounded and irresponsible remarks about the SAR’s internal affairs.
They stressed that the arrests and prosecution of 15 public figures recently and the national security legislation under the Basic Law are Hong Kong’s internal affairs, and Western politicians shall not make unwarranted comments to interfere.
Hong Kong police arrested 15 public figures, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, on April 18 on suspicion of organizing and participating in unlawful assemblies last year.