Hong Kong vows to keep protecting human rights in city, rejects ‘unfounded’ UN claims

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, who took part in Thursday’s meeting as the deputy head of the Chinese delegation, said that domestic legislation to safeguard national security created an environment where residents could enjoy freedom as well as a peaceful and prosperous way of life.

“The government will continue to collaborate with all sectors of society to protect and promote human rights through security, development and cooperation, and tell the international community good stories of Hong Kong’s human rights situation in a reasoned and robust manner,” he added.

The working group on the Universal Periodic Review of the council examined a report submitted by mainland China in January and subsequently adopted a review report on Thursday, which covered 428 recommendations raised by UN member states, including 24 related to Hong Kong.

The recommendations on Hong Kong included calls to repeal the two national security laws in the city, and to discontinue cases against people charged with “exercising their human rights and freedoms”.

The document also asked for the release of “writers, bloggers, journalists, human rights defenders and others arbitrarily detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and guarantee this right, including in Hong Kong”.