Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing lawmakers have been distancing themselves from consular officials of countries belonging to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and other European nations, with one Beijing loyalist turning down invitations to meet, according to a local newspaper.

Sing Tao Daily News reported that the city’s Beijing loyalists “have been reminded” to avoid meeting with envoys of Five Eyes — an intelligence alliance of five English-speaking countries including the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — as they have strongly criticized the enactment of the national security law in Hong Kong and the erosion of the city’s freedoms and autonomy.

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Alice Mak told the Apple Daily that she “has not been reminded” to avoid meeting envoys from countries in Five Eyes, but she did recently receive meeting invitations from them. She said she had declined the invitations citing a busy schedule, but Mak admitted she did not find those meetings constructive under the current geopolitical climate.

“What is the point of meeting with them? I have met them in the past but I did not see how those meetings have improved the livelihood of our society. In fact, they are the troublemakers in Hong Kong,” the Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker said.

Even if relationships between China and the rest of the world improve in the future, Mak said she would only meet these foreign envoys if time permitted. “If they just want to sniff around for information and play tricks with us, it’s better not [to meet],” she said.

Reports of the new stance from pro-Beijing lawmakers have emerged after U.S. diplomats stationed in Hong Kong were told to obtain permission from Beijing before they could meet with the city’s officials and politicians, according to a new directive issued in September.

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