Beijing and Hong Kong authorities hit back at US State Department report accusing China of ‘dismantling’ city’s freedoms

Both the foreign ministry’s Hong Kong office and the local government have urged the US to keep its nose out of China’s internal affairs

The State Department’s ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ had criticised Beijing for its imposition of the national security law last year

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A banner touting the national security law is displayed over the entrance to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel. The US has criticised Beijing over the law in a recent report. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 7:18pm, 31 Mar 2021Updated: 7:18pm, 31 Mar 2021

Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have insisted that the city’s residents enjoy unprecedented freedoms under the law, after the US accused the Chinese Communist Party of having “systematically dismantled” the city’s political rights and autonomy last year.

Both the Chinese foreign ministry’s Hong Kong office and the local government issued separate statements on Wednesday rebutting US State Department criticisms contained in its “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”, with the former pointedly noting that the city “is a part of China”, and not the concern of the United States.

“We urge the US to … manage its own house well, earnestly abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and stop meddling with Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs,” a spokesman for the ministry’s local office said.

The State Department report was particularly critical of the Beijing-imposed national security law, which it said had established official bodies “with sweeping powers and negligible public oversight”. The report characterised the law as broadly defined, accusing it of leading to a number of “arbitrary” arrests, restrictions on citizens criticising the government, self-censorship and changes to school curriculums.

The department also termed the central government’s actions a “violation of its international commitments” and the spirit of the “one country, two systems” framework, under which Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy upon its return to China in 1997.

Because its scope was limited to the 2020 calendar year, the report did not mention Beijing’s latest moves to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system. Approved by Beijing’s top legislature on Tuesday, the sweeping measures cut the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature from half to about a fifth, and give greater powers to the establishment-dominated committee that selects the city’s chief executive.

The 2020 report did not cover Beijing’s recent drastic overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

The State Department report also expressed doubts and concerns over recent prosecutorial decisions, the city’s judicial independence, the postponement of Legislative Council polls last year and new oath-taking requirements for public officers.

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