Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her administration issued a strongly worded statement in the middle of Monday night, refuting the United Kingdom government’s six-monthly report on Hong Kong and lambasting its “double standards.”

The latest U.K. report, published on Monday evening, cited a number of incidents – including the disqualification of opposition candidates and Beijing’s ousting of four elected legislators – and concluded that the imposition of the “National Security Law represents a clear and serious breach of the Joint Declaration”.

“No one is more committed to ‘one country, two systems’ than the Central People’s Government,” the Hong Kong government hit back, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The statement blamed events in recent years, including calls for independence and self-determination “imbued with anti-China sentiment”, for posing challenges to the “one country, two systems” principle. It also accused external forces of interfering in Hong Kong’s internal affairs and flagrantly glorifying the illegal acts of radicals.

“We condemned overseas politicians for turning a blind eye to such violence which was seriously jeopardizing our nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as the HKSAR’s prosperity and stability,” it said.

The statement also claimed broad support for the national security law. “It was hailed by some 2.9 million Hong Kong people,” referring to the number of signatures collected by a pro-Beijing group shortly after China’s rubber-stamp parliament announced its plans to introduce the controversial legislation in late May.

Despite weekly arrests of opposition lawmakers and a blanket ban on all public rallies, the statement said Hong Kong people could once again enjoy their basic rights and freedoms in accordance with the law.

The Lam administration did not respond to the chilling effect of the law mentioned in the report, but added that Hong Kong has jurisdiction over national security cases except in limited circumstances. “We doubt such responsibilities would be delegated to a local government in the U.K.,” the long statement continued.

“We could not help but mock at the double standards adopted by the U.K. Government,” comparing the postponement of local and mayoral elections in Britain to that of Hong Kong.

It accused the report of breaching international obligations and noted that over 70 countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council, including North Korea and Russia, expressed support for Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong.

In the report, British Foreign Secretary of State Dominic Raab wrote that he has begun consultations with the president of the U.K. Supreme Court on whether it continues to be appropriate for British judges to sit as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. The Hong Kong administration has not responded to this.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong also issued a statement, expressing strong indignation over and firm opposition against the report. “We urge the British side to wake up from its colonial nostalgia and stop any interference in Hong Kong affairs,” it blasted.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play