China rejects Britain’s Hong Kong report, calling it interference

China has criticised a British government-published report on Hong Kong, which it describes as an attempt to interfere in its internal affairs, amid pressure from British lawmakers for expanded sanctions against Hong Kong officials involved in national security prosecutions.

‘The UK fabricates the so-called “six-monthly report” to interfere in China’s internal affairs and vilify the human rights conditions and the rule of law in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,’ Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun declared at a press conference on 28 March, responding to the report’s release a day earlier.

‘Some people should get rid of its deeply entrenched colonial mindset as early as possible, respect China’s sovereignty and Hong Kong’s rule of law, stop pointing fingers at the handling of judicial cases in Hong Kong, and stop being a haven to the people who sought to destabilize Hong Kong,’ Guo added, according to an English-language transcript on the ministry’s website.

The strongly-worded rebuke comes as the UK’s 56th report on Hong Kong documents extensive use of national security laws that have led to increased prosecutions of activists, journalists and political opponents. The report specifically highlights last year’s Christmas Eve arrest warrants issued for six pro-democracy activists living abroad, including four in the UK, with bounties of approximately £100,000 for information leading to their arrests.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who took office in July 2024, declared in the report’s foreword that his government ‘will not tolerate attempts by any foreign powers to intimidate individuals in the UK,’ referring to Hong Kong authorities’ expanding transnational enforcement efforts against critics living overseas.

The report comes amid growing pressure from British lawmakers for expanded sanctions similar to those imposed by the US, which has already sanctioned several Hong Kong officials including former Chief Executive Carrie Lam under Executive Order 13936 in August 2020. While the UK has yet to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on specific Hong Kong officials, cross-party MPs have increasingly called for such measures against those responsible for implementing the territory’s national security regime, including at a House of Commons debate in January 2024.

The UK report details several high-profile cases including the sentencing of 45 pro-democracy politicians and activists to prison terms ranging from four to ten years, the ongoing trial of British citizen Jimmy Lai, and the conviction of two former Stand News journalists for sedition ‘for merely doing their jobs.’

The diplomatic clash highlights continuing tensions over Hong Kong nearly five years after the implementation of the National Security Law in June 2020, which the UK has declared to be in breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration guaranteeing Hong Kong’s autonomy until 2047.

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/202503/t20250328_11583955.html

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/six-monthly-reports-on-hong-kong