Hong Kong rejects US report on crackdown on freedoms

The Hong Kong government said on Saturday that it disapproved of a US report on a crackdown on freedoms in the territory.

The report by the US Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs argued that Chinese authorities had "undermined the rule of law" in Hong Kong, while also "directly threatening US interests."

What did Hong Kong say about the report?

A Hong Kong government spokesperson said authorities "strongly" disapproved of and "firmly" rejected the report, adding that it contained "slandering remarks and ill-intentioned attacks."

"[Hong Kong] is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China [and] is a local administrative region that enjoys a high degree of autonomy under 'one country, two systems,'" the spokesperson said in a statement. 

"One country, two systems" is a Chinese government principle that refers to the autonomous status afforded to the regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

The spokesperson said that "all law enforcement actions … are based on evidence" and "have nothing to do with [the] political stance, background or occupation" of suspects.

"The US' attempt to undermine the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong will only expose its own weakness and faulty arguments and be doomed to fail," the statement said.

Crackdown on dissent

In June 2020, Beijing imposed a new national security law that redefined serious crimes against the state like secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and gave Beijing the chance to prosecute these cases in some instances.

Critics, including US authorities, argue that the law limits freedom of speech and the guarantees of democratic rights in the autonomous territory that China made when reclaiming control of it from Britain in the late 1990s.

"Hong Kong authorities continued to arrest and prosecute people for peaceful political expression critical of the local and central governments, including for posting and forwarding social media posts," the US report said.

Over 230 people in Hong Kong have been arrested under the national security law.

In March, forty US senators sponsored a resolution urging for a strong response to any crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, including using sanctions.

Late last week, dozens of protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong in the first authorized demonstrations since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted earlier this year. Protesters carried government-approved banners and were obliged to carry numbered badges around their necks.

This report was written in part with material from Reuters.

Edited by: Sean Sinico