FM, embassy, HKSAR government slam UK’s ‘six-monthly report’

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Chinese Embassy in the UK and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government have firmly refuted the UK’s recent so-called six-monthly report on Hong Kong, which disregarded the facts and grossly interfered in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs.

On Monday, the UK government published its 54th six-monthly report on Hong Kong, continuing to use the Sino-British Joint Declaration as an excuse to defame One Country, Two Systems, the Hong Kong national security law, and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

In response to the so-called six-monthly report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at Tuesday’s regular press briefing that it violates the principles of international law and the basic norms of international relations. China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the report, Lin said.

On Monday, a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy in the UK said the SinoBritish Joint Declaration does not give the UK any right to intervene in Hong Kong affairs. The Chinese government remains firmly resolved to safeguarding China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, in implementing One Country, Two Systems, and in opposing any external interference in Hong Kong’s affairs.

Any negative voices trying to undermine HKSAR and spread pessimism will not shake the firm steps of One Country, Two Systems from moving steadily forward. The train of “Hong Kong” in the new era will advance unhindered, said a spokesperson from the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR on Monday.

The UK is playing the same old trick again, but it should be well aware that it no longer has the right or strength to intervene in Hong Kong affairs, Gao Jian, director of the Center for British Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.