According to the press release of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) , in response to the false statements and slander against various aspects of the situation in the HKSAR made by the United Kingdom in the so-called“Half-yearly report on Hong Kong: January-june 2024”, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) expressed its strong condemnation on September 12 and must speak out strongly against it.
Central Government Offices, information map, Picture Source: Hong Kong Wenhui net
According to the press release, a spokesman for the Hong Kong SAR government said that the SAR government strongly condemns and opposes the so-called half-yearly report by the United Kingdom to gossip about Hong Kong affairs and arbitrarily use politics to override the rule of law, they are trying to interfere with Hong Kong’s rule of law by dirty political tricks. The HKSAR is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China and a local administrative region that enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the “One Country, Two Systems” and is directly under the Central People’s government.
The Sino-British Joint Declaration’s core message, the spokesman said, was that the restoration of Chinese sovereignty did not give the British the right to intervene in post-handover affairs. Britain has no sovereignty, no right to rule, and no right to supervise Hong Kong after its return. The HKSAR Government once again strongly urges the United Kingdom to recognize the facts, comply with international law and the basic norms of international relations, and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, which are purely China’s internal affairs.
The spokesman also said that the HKSAR Government strongly opposed the so-called report of the United Kingdom against the HKSAR to safeguard national security-related laws ridiculous and inaccurate content. Since the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Act in June 2020, the United Kingdom has continued to deliberately ignore the large-scale, persistent and devastating riots that occurred in Hong Kong in 2019, the fact that the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law can restore the normal life and economic activities of the people of Hong Kong and restore the business environment is completely ignored. The British government took a hard line in August, quickly labelling the protests as“Far-right riots” after clashes broke out across the country, law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities vigorously pursued mass arrests and prosecutions of those who participated in the riots offline and those who made inciting remarks online, and courts held overnight sessions to deal with related cases and remanded most of the accused, the convicted person shall be given a heavy sentence. The British government, on the other hand, glorified the “Mob” as a “Democracy demonstration” and discredited the HKSAR’s law enforcement, prosecution and judiciary duties as “Human rights violations”, and continue to unbridled distortion of the facts to attack, this just shows its bullying and“Double standard” hypocrisy face and behavior, it is extremely ugly, despicable.
The spokesman said that the law enforcement agencies of the HKSAR have been taking enforcement action based on evidence, in strict compliance with the law and in accordance with the illegal and improper conduct of the persons or entities concerned, it has nothing to do with his politics, background, or career. Any initiative that certain persons or organizations should not be subject to legal sanctions for their violations, including those involving collusion with foreign or foreign forces, would be tantamount to granting them criminal privileges, which was totally contrary to the spirit of the rule of law. The spokesman said the HKSAR Government firmly upholds the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people as protected by law. Since the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law and the maintenance of National Security Ordinance, the media environment in Hong Kong has continued to thrive.
The spokesman also noted that academic freedom is an important social value that Hong Kong has always upheld and a cornerstone of the success of the higher education sector in Hong Kong. Since the implementation of the National Security Law of Hong Kong, Hong Kong academics and tertiary institutions have continued to conduct normal exchange activities with overseas and off-campus partners. At the same time, local tertiary institutions have taken a series of measures to integrate national security education into the scope of study of students in order to fulfil their statutory responsibilities. Institutions enjoy autonomy in curriculum design and the HKSAR Government encourages them to provide diversified learning opportunities for students on national security education.