Hong Kong authorities have strongly condemned the “untruthful remarks, slanders and smears” in the UK’s monitoring report on the city, which claimed that national security legislation had diminished the city’s political autonomy.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, in her report, also said it was “hardly surprising” that hundreds of thousands of people had left the city to places where “freedoms are better protected” as she reiterated London’s commitment to the British National (Overseas), or BN(O), visa scheme, which allowed Hong Kong residents to settle in the UK.
In a statement published early on Friday morning, a Hong Kong government spokesman said the UK was not entitled to interfere with the city’s affairs, which were part of China’s internal affairs.
He added that the UK continued to “unscrupulously distort the facts” in criticising the Beijing-imposed national security law and Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, and called Britain’s bullying acts “utterly ugly and despicable”.
The spokesman said the report, which mentioned the case of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and others related to national security offences in the city, could amount to perverting the course of justice.
“The UK must stop distorting the truth, blatantly discrediting the judicial system and trials of Hong Kong, in an attempt to glorify criminal behaviour and exert pressure on the courts,” he said.
Since July 1997, the UK’s foreign secretary has been required to report to parliament at six-monthly intervals on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the 1984 treaty that outlined Hong Kong’s post-handover arrangements.
In the UK’s latest report, covering the period from January to June and issued on Thursday, Cooper said she remained concerned by the use of national security legislation to “diminish the city’s political autonomy and political pluralism”.
She cited the rearrest of jailed activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, who faces a fresh charge of colluding with foreign forces; the disbandment of the League of Social Democrats and the Democratic Party; and the ongoing prosecution of former Apple Daily founder Lai.
Cooper also raised concerns about local authorities issuing further arrest warrants and bounties for overseas activists accused of national security breaches, including those living in the UK. She added that the country was stepping up efforts to counter what she called transnational repression by introducing more specialised police training.
“The safety of the Hong Kong community in the UK is a top priority for this government,” she said.
Amid the UK’s plan to tighten its immigration policies, Cooper reiterated that Britain was “committed to the BN(O) visa route” and would “continue to support Hongkongers as they build new lives across the UK”.
“Their contributions enrich our society, and we will continue to do everything necessary to ensure that they feel protected and valued in the country they have made home,” Cooper said.
The UK launched the BN(O) migration pathway for Hongkongers in January 2021 in response to the introduction of the Beijing-decreed national security law. The Home Office earlier said the first batch of about 600 Hongkongers had been granted settlement in the UK as of June.
In her report, Cooper also noted that the city’s transparency and access to government information were diminishing. She pointed to the removal of public records by the Office of the Ombudsman, restrictions on access to archived materials, and the withholding of transcripts from the Chief Executive’s question-and-answer sessions in the legislature. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
