Beijing hits out at US consulate in Hong Kong for ‘slandering’ state of democracy

Beijing has hit out at the US consulate in Hong Kong for “slandering” the local state of democracy by suggesting a recent UN review showed the central government was violating human rights in the city.

The foreign ministry’s arm in the city on Saturday condemned the consulate for adopting the “delusion of using Hong Kong to suppress China”, arguing local residents instead were best positioned to comment on the state of human rights and democracy.

“The United States’ consulate general in Hong Kong has disregarded its country’s chaos and abysmal record in human rights abuses, ignored the state of development in [Hong Kong] and the international consensus, and violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to disparage Hong Kong, blatantly revealing its shady mentality that cannot bear to see Hong Kong doing well,” a spokesman said.

The foreign ministry’s arm was referring to a post published on the consulate’s account on X on Friday, which said the UN Human Rights Council’s review showed Beijing’s violation of human rights in the city.

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

“[The review] showed Beijing broke promises to people in Hong Kong when they took away [Hong Kong’s] autonomy and democratic institutions. [The] national security law, Article 23 legislation and politically motivated prosecutions contravene Basic Law, Sino-UK Joint Declaration and [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] obligations,” the post said.