This Nov 17, 2016 photo shows the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Central, Hong Kong. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has firmly rejected a so-called statement issued by the British government and some members of the “Media Freedom Coalition” that slandered Hong Kong’s press freedom.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the office said a recent “statement” released jointly by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the “Media Freedom Coalition” smeared the HKSAR government’s law enforcement activities. 

The historical trend of Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to stability and prosperity is irreversible, and any attempt to interfere with Hong Kong affairs and exert pressure on us in the name of press freedom is doomed to failure.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR

The spokesperson emphasized that no one should use freedom of the press as a shield for engaging activities disrupting China and the HKSAR or undermining national security and social stability.

“The historical trend of Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to stability and prosperity is irreversible, and any attempt to interfere with Hong Kong affairs and exert pressure on us in the name of press freedom is doomed to failure,” said the spokesperson.

The Basic Law and the National Security Law safeguard rights and freedoms of the city’s residents, including freedom of speech and the press, the spokesperson added.

“Since the implementation of the National Security Law, Hong Kong’s social stability has been restored, development has returned to the right track, freedom of the press has been better protected in a safe, stable and law-based environment,” the spokesperson said.

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But some external forces, including the so-called “Media Freedom Coalition”, have turned a blind eye to the city’s well-developed media sector and free flow of information, the spokesperson said.

“They teamed up to vilify Hong Kong’s freedom of the press, interfered with the rule of law in Hong Kong, and supported anti-China elements in the city, which fully exposed their intention of creating chaos in Hong Kong. Their move to confuse black and white is just wishful thinking and will fall flat.”

Some external forces, including the so-called “Media Freedom Coalition”, have turned a blind eye to the city’s well-developed media sector and free flow of information, said the spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR

The spokesperson pointed out that members of the coalition are not templates for press freedom. Some of them shut down news websites, suppressed media and journalists in other countries, and prevented journalists from participating in government public activities. 

“In the United States alone, at least 117 journalists were arrested or detained in 2020, and 148 were arrested or attacked in the week after the death of George Floyd. With such bad track records, how can they wag a finger at China’s Hong Kong affairs with condensation?”

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The spokesperson reiterated that Hong Kong is part of China and the city’s affairs are purely China’s internal affairs. China is determined to safeguard national sovereignty and implement the principle of “one country, two systems”.

The spokesperson urged relevant countries and groups to abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations and stop interfering in the city’s affairs and China’s internal affairs under any pretext.