Photo shows the building of the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in HKSAR on March. 21, 2017. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's diplomatic missions on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a statement issued by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries and the EU High Representative, in which they made irresponsible remarks on the conviction in the Jimmy Lai case and smeared and vilified the national security law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

A spokesperson for the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR said the statement disregarded facts, turned black into white, and openly voiced support for anti-China and destabilizing elements, constituting gross interference in Hong Kong's rule of law and China's internal affairs. The spokesperson expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition.

The spokesperson said Jimmy Lai has long acted as a "lackey" of external forces seeking to destabilize Hong Kong, with criminal facts of inciting subversion and separatism and endangering national security being clear and evidence conclusive. 

The entire trial process was conducted openly and transparently, with both prosecution and defense fully presenting and examining evidence, and the verdict was based entirely on facts and evidence, leaving no room for criticism. The ruling has received broad support across Hong Kong society, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson of the office stressed that certain countries deliberately ignored the 855-page verdict, instead portraying Lai as a so-called "democracy fighter" or symbol of "press freedom", which amounts to a blatant trampling on the spirit of the rule of law. He added that Western politicians' professed concern over Hong Kong's "rights" and "freedoms" in fact reflects their frustration that proxies they cultivated have been held accountable and that their attempts to infiltrate and undermine Hong Kong have failed, calling the so-called statement "nothing more than a piece of waste paper."

The spokesperson stressed that today's China has long since left behind the humiliating past of being trampled by foreign powers, and that today's Hong Kong is moving forward with confidence on a new path from stability to prosperity. Any attempt by a group of countries, no matter how many, to pressure China into submission, the spokesperson said, is futile and comparable to "a mantis trying to stop a chariot or an ant attempting to shake a tree", and will ultimately end in failure in the face of the united resolve of the 1.4 billion Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots.

Separately, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Canada on Wednesday also voiced strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the statement, calling such acts a crude interference in China's internal affairs and a serious violation of the basic norms governing international relations.

Jimmy Lai is a principal planner and participant in a series of major anti-China, destabilizing activities in HKSAR. His crimes are well documented and the harm he has caused is grave, said the spokesperson. 

HKSAR is a society governed by the rule of law, where everyone is equal before the law. The judicial authorities of the HKSAR have performed their duties in accordance with the law, upheld the authority of the law, and safeguarded national security. This is reasonable, lawful, and beyond reproach, said the spokesperson. 

Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs and brook no external interference. Since the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, Hong Kong society has maintained stability, and the rights and freedoms of its residents have been solidly protected, said the spokesperson.  

We urge the relevant parties to respect China's sovereignty and Hong Kong's rule of law, and to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong's judicial affairs and China's internal affairs, said the spokesperson.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK also issued a statement through its spokesperson on the erroneous statement on Hong Kong by G7 foreign ministers and the EU High Representative. "We firmly oppose and strongly condemn the so-called statement and interference by the G7 countries and the EU," the spokesperson said.

"The National Security Law for Hong Kong is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's long-term stability and prosperity, and it brooks no slandering or smearing. Hong Kong is a society underpinned by the rule of law, and no one is above the law," the spokesperson said.

"Jimmy Lai's crimes are substantiated by ironclad evidence, and he will naturally face punishment under the law," the spokesperson added.

"The G7 and the EU should manage their own internal affairs, and have no right to point fingers at or interfere in China's internal affairs. The aforementioned statement only further exposes their hypocrisy and double standards, and will further strengthen China's determination to implement the National Security Law, crack down on anti-China rioters bent on destabilising Hong Kong, and safeguard Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. All attempts by external forces to interfere in Hong Kong's judicial affairs are doomed to failure," the spokesperson said. 

Global Times