'UK Report On Hong Kong Inaccurate And Biased'

The Hong Kong government has dismissed a six-monthly report on the SAR by the UK government as containing "inaccurate and biased" remarks on the future national security law and the city's high degree of autonomy.

The SAR government refuted suggestions the enactment of national security legislation was in direct conflict with the Basic Law and would erode the city's high degree of autonomy.

The UK government's regular six-monthly report on Hong Kong – the 46th such report since the handover in 1997 – covered the period between July and December last year, when the city was rocked by unprecedented social unrest.

In the foreword, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote that the proposed law undermines the One Country, Two Systems framework and was in direct conflict with Article 23 of the Basic Law.

The SAR government says these allegations are "absolutely wrong" and "totally groundless".

The government said Article 23 does not preclude Beijing from legislating for national security at a state level – pointing out that this is within the purview of the central authorities and outside the limits of autonomy of the Hong Kong SAR.

It went on to characterise suggestions the law would undermine people's freedoms and the One Country, Two Systems principle "alarmist speculation" and "simply fallacious".

The government said the law will only target an extremely small minority of criminals, and would create favourable conditions for ensuring the long-term prosperity and stability of the city.

The Hong Kong government did not directly respond to the UK report's assertion that a British consulate worker, Simon Cheng, was detained by mainland authorities within the mainland jurisdiction area of the West Kowloon train terminus.

The UK report said he was subjected to treatment on the mainland that amounted to torture. It said this incident damaged China's international reputation, and fuels concerns within Hong Kong about rights and freedoms in the mainland.

The Hong Kong government concluded that foreign governments, legislatures and politicians should not interfere in any form in the internal affairs of the SAR.

However, the UK report also said the joint declaration remains as valid today as when it was signed, and the UK would continue to closely monitor events in Hong Kong.