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The Hong Kong government accused foreign politicians of being ignorant and irresponsible after criticizing its recent crackdown on pro-democracy figures, and accused Beijing of “flagrant violations” of Hong Kong’s autonomy.
While not mentioning anyone, the Hong Kong government statement on Friday said the allegations voiced by “certain officials and politicians” from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Parliament were “totally unfounded and constituted a serious intervention in Hong Kong affairs. “
“The RAE government did not agree with the extremely irresponsible comments and expressed its deep regret for them,” he said.
On Thursday, The Guardian reported that the last British governor to Hong Kong, Chris Patten, had urged the UK government to intervene in the deteriorating political situation in Hong Kong. Patten said the Chinese Communist Party had taken advantage of the pandemic to “put the screws on Hong Kong.”
Last month, Beijing’s main organizations in the region, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) and the liaison office, intervened in internal political arguments, raising allegations that they were acting against the mini-constitution. of Hong Kong, the Basic Law.
In response, authorities claimed that the law did not apply to those offices, prompting furious condemnation from Hong Kong’s defenders of democracy, as well as from several foreign governments, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the European Parliament.
Patten said the statements from the two offices were “a flagrant violation of the joint statement,” which he helped negotiate, signed by Britain and China when Hong Kong delivered the last one in 1997.
In its statement on Friday, the government maintained that HKMAO and the liaison office had “power and responsibility for the proper and full implementation” of the Basic Law, and it was “clearly legitimate” for them to express concerns about the conduct of the Hong Kong lawmakers.
“Any suggestion that those legitimate comments from HKMAO and [liaison office] the amount of interference only illustrates an ignorance of the RAEHK constitutional order and its relationship with the Central Authorities. “
On April 18, Hong Kong authorities also arrested more than a dozen leading pro-democracy figures accused of mass protests last year, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, veteran activist Lee Cheuk-Yan, the lawyer for 81 years old and the Hong Kong lawyer. “Father of Democracy”, Martin Lee QC.
On Friday, the government took a “big exception” to the widespread condemnation of the arrests, saying that any allegation that there had been an erosion of Hong Kongers’ liberties was “unfounded.”
“The SAR government said it always respects and protects human rights and freedoms,” he said. “However, these rights are not absolute.”
He said that Hong Kong’s prosecution and judicial system were independent, objective and respected.
“Therefore, we view with disgust the request of certain foreign politicians that the HKSAR government drop the charges against those arrested. If we were to agree or be seen to yield to such unreasonable demands, we would not only be unfair and unprofessional, we would also act in violation of the spirit of the rule of law, a core value in Hong Kong. “
“The assertion by some that these arrests amounted to an attack on Hong Kong’s freedoms and a violation of [Basic Law] it is absurd and can hardly bear the test of any law-abiding jurisdiction. “
