‘Abandon arrogance, face fact that national security law has restored stability in Hong Kong’: Beijing to UN Human Rights Committee on report proposing repeal of legislation
- Chinese government’s foreign ministry, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and Beijing’s liaison office all hit back at UN report that expressed ‘grave concern’
- Spokesman also slams EU’s support for UN report, accusing body of ‘hyping up Hong Kong-related issues’
The Chinese government’s foreign ministry, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), and Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong all hit back on Thursday after a report released by the UN committee expressed “grave concern” at an “overly broad interpretation” and “arbitrary application” of the security legislation.
It also called for reform of Hong Kong’s electoral system to increase the number of directly elected seats in the Election Committee, a powerful body that selects the city’s leader, and the Legislative Council.
In a statement released by Xinhua, the Chinese state press agency, a spokesman for the cabinet-level HKMAO expressed “firm opposition and strong dissatisfaction” over the UN report, calling comments in the paper “biased and untrue”.
“The promulgation and implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong has helped to restore the rule of law and order, protect residents’ peaceful [lives], bring economic and social development back on track, and promote Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to governance.”
The spokesman also insisted the security law “prevents, stops and punishes illegal acts” by a small minority of people, and guaranteed the rights and freedoms enjoyed by residents. He suggested that the UN needed to be “objective” in promoting human rights.
“We sincerely hope that the future reports of the UN Human Rights Committee will be more factual and less biased and fallacious in the future,” he added.
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In a separate statement, also released by Xinhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s liaison office said the central government needed to impose the security law to counter foreign interference.
“We urge relevant international institutions to abandon their arrogance and prejudice, face the successful practice of ‘one country, two systems’ and the basic fact that the Hong Kong national security law maintains social stability and fully protects human rights, and make due objective and fair judgments,” the spokesman said.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Friday that the UN report was misleading. He said the security law’s goals were to restore social stability and prohibit acts that endanger national security in Hong Kong, and were similar to the purposes of similar laws in other countries.
Earlier on Thursday, the European Union issued a statement in support of the UN report, saying: “The EU supports the Human Rights Committee’s recommendations, in particular to repeal both the national security law and the sedition law, and to refrain, immediately, from applying them.”
The remarks drew the ire of the Chinese foreign ministry’s office in Hong Kong, which accused the EU of “hyping up Hong Kong-related issues and slandering the central government’s policy towards Hong Kong”.
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“The concluding remarks in the report were completely inconsistent with the real human rights situation in Hong Kong and unconvincing. Yet the EU jumped out impatiently to make irresponsible remarks and accusations about Hong Kong affairs, this fully exposed its hypocrisy and sinister intentions of ‘playing the Hong Kong card’,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
“We urge the EU to put its position right … immediately stop slandering Hong Kong’s rule of law and judicial independence, and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs.”
