Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office lashes out at foreign countries over condemnation of mass opposition arrests

Name: Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law
Uploaded: 2021-01-11T15:14:33.000Z
Duration: 3 min 4 s
Description: Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law

The office accused the four foreign nations that had criticised the arrests of seeking to foment ‘colour revolution’ to overthrow China’s constitutional order

Australia, Canada, Britain and the US had expressed concerns about 55 opposition figures being rounded up for taking part in unofficial primary elections

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The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has accused foreign critics of recent opposition arrests of seeking to foment “colour revolution”. Photo: AFP

Ng Kang-chung

Published: 11:14pm, 11 Jan 2021Updated: 12:34am, 12 Jan 2021

The Beijing office overseeing Hong Kong affairs has lashed out at a joint statement by four foreign governments condemning the mass arrest of Hong Kong opposition figures, accusing the countries of seeking to foment a “colour revolution” to overthrow the nation’s constitutional order.

The ministerial-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) on Monday also labelled the foreign governments’ comments as “blatant interference” in Hong Kong police’s law enforcement actions and a “grave violation” of the country’s “domestic affairs and judicial sovereignty”.

In a statement, an HKMAO spokesman said Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States – the countries behind the original remarks – had “exposed their evil motive of supporting anti-China elements to make use of elections to endanger our national security”.

“It is to collude with external forces to push for a colour revolution in Hong Kong, and it is also part of the script of overthrowing the country’s constitutional order,” the spokesman said.

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Mass arrests of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, activists under national security law

The criticisms came a day after Beijing’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong and the city’s government issued separate statements accusing the four countries of applying double standards.

The countries’ foreign ministers had issued a joint statement over the weekend expressing concern over the mass arrests of opposition politicians and activists on suspicion of subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law.