US denounced for vilifying security legislation for HK

The Commissioner's Office of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong and local political heavyweights slammed the United States on Thursday for demonizing the proposed national security legislation for the city, and for threatening possible sanctions and other measures.

The remarks came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed on Wednesday that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region no longer enjoys a high degree of autonomy from China, and threatened to revoke Hong Kong's special trade status with the US.

In a statement, the Commissioner's Office of the Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR firmly opposed and refuted Pompeo's claims.

The accusations are smears and distortion of the "one country, two systems" principle, a spokesperson said, stressing that national security legislation is within the power of the central government and is its obligation, and not within the limits of the SAR's autonomy.

It is "utterly imperious, unreasonable and shameless" for the US to stigmatize and demonize China's just and legitimate measures to plug the city's national security loopholes, and even threaten sanctions based on US domestic law, while that country simultaneously goes all-out to reinforce its own legal system on national security at all times, the spokesperson pointed out.

The spokesperson slammed the US for interfering in China's internal affairs and holding "double standards and gangster logic", and urged the US to stop meddling, or it would be met with firm opposition and strong countermeasures from the 1.4 billion Chinese people, the spokesperson warned.

Leung Chun-ying, a former SAR chief executive and a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, lambasted Pompeo for exploiting Hong Kong for political gain.

US politicians' "sudden care" of Hong Kong has nothing to do with Hong Kong people's interests, but is only for their own gain, Leung said.

On his personal social media account, Leung said the US has never cared about the freedom of Hong Kong people. That's why the US never said anything about the violations of freedom under British colonial rule, when at the time a large number of Hong Kong people were imprisoned or deported without trial, and newspapers were seized.

Respected business leader Henry Tang Ying-yen, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC's National Committee, said Pompeo should look at China's Constitution and HKSAR's Basic Law, by which the central government is conferred with the power to introduce national laws to the SAR.

Noting that sanctions are not answers to any issues, Tang warned that the US must understand how the Chinese people have a tradition of fighting back against those who stir up conflicts.

Solicitor and legislator Holden Chow Ho-ding stressed that the US has no right to intervene in the internal affairs of China and the Hong Kong SAR, nor to intimidate Hong Kong with the threat of the loss of its special tariff status.

Chow said that Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is enshrined under the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law, in which the US has no say.

The lawmaker reiterated that the national security legislation is to safeguard the safety of Hong Kong residents, and to ensure a safe and stable business environment for foreign investors.

Legislator Felix Chung Kwok-pan, representing the textiles and garment sector, doubted the US' so-called "support" for Hong Kong's development in freedom and democracy, as the US is at the same time in fact plotting sanctions for the city.

Chung said that in his meeting with US congressmen last year, they failed to give a clear definition of what "a high degree of autonomy" means. It implied that they define the matter based only on their personal feelings, Chung said.