
Beijing slams US official, EU body for attack on Hong Kong national security law
national security legislation , criticising their 'hypocrisy' and 'malicious intention' of containing China by going after the city.
Advertisement
The statement from China's foreign ministry arm in Hong Kong on Tuesday was in response to remarks by Jim Risch, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the European External Action Service.
Risch said that Hong Kong had become 'no different from China' since the Beijing-imposed national security law was enacted five years ago, while the EU body said the legislation had resulted in a continuous erosion of civil liberties in the city.
The day after Hong Kong marked the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-decreed national security law's promulgation, a spokesman for the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong expressed its 'strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition' to the US official and EU body's remarks.
'Certain politicians have disregarded their own poor track record on human rights and the rule of law, ignoring the facts of Hong Kong's prosperity, stability and people's well-being,' he said.
Advertisement
'Their open interference in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs has exposed their hypocrisy, double standards and malicious intention to contain China through Hong Kong.'
Tuesday also marks the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Two Chinese nationals arrested in US for espionage
Two Chinese nationals have been charged with spying inside the US on behalf of Beijing, including by taking photographs of a naval base, coordinating a cash dead drop and by taking part in efforts to recruit members of the military who they thought might be open to working for Chinese intelligence. The case, filed in federal court in San Francisco and unsealed on Monday, is the latest US Justice Department prosecution to target what officials say are active efforts by the Chinese government to secretly collect intelligence about American military capabilities – a practice laid bare in startling fashion two years ago with China's launching of a surveillance balloon that US officials ultimately shot down over the coast of South Carolina. 'This case underscores the Chinese government's sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement announcing the case. 'The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country – we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.' Officials identified the defendants as Yuance Chen, 38, who arrived in the US on a visa in 2015 and later became a lawful permanent resident, and Liren 'Ryan' Lai, 39, who prosecutors say lives in China but came to Texas this past spring as part of an effort to supervise clandestine espionage operations on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security or MSS. The two were arrested on charges of secretly doing China's bidding without registering as foreign agents with the Justice Department, as required by law. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday.


South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US Senate, passing Trump bill, bars clean energy tax credits for firms with ties to China
The US Congress is poised to bar companies with ties to China from gaining clean energy tax credits – a move that critics warn could jeopardise dozens of planned projects and freeze investment in a sector already struggling to decouple from the country. Advertisement After an overnight series of amendment votes, the Senate on Tuesday passed its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – which would also remove the decades-old 'de minimis' trade rule that allows low-value packages to avoid duties and rigorous screening – by a vote of 51-50, with Vice-President J.D. Vance providing the tiebreaker. The House of Representatives passed its version in May but would need to vote on the Senate's changes before the bill could be sent to US President Donald Trump to sign into law. Republicans, who control both chambers, have set a deadline to finish a version for the president by Friday. Trump's signature budget legislation, which spans about 900 pages, includes strict foreign ownership rules that would disqualify clean energy companies from receiving tax credits. Among the many disqualifying relationships: cases in which a Chinese entity owns as little as 25 per cent of the company. The bill also sets new 'material assistance' thresholds that disqualify projects from receiving tax credits if too much of their content is sourced from China, Iran, North Korea or Russia, with the allowable share declining over time. For example, starting next year, a solar farm would be ineligible if more than 60 per cent of its materials by value came from China. Advertisement The bill additionally targets US-China licensing deals focused on transferring technology and processes, potentially imperiling high-profile deals like the one between Ford and the Chinese battery maker CATL. Restrictions on foreign clean energy components, tech transfers and ownership – meant to reduce reliance on Chinese dominance in the sector – are not new. They were also in the Inflation Reduction Act, former president Joe Biden's signature climate legislation that established many of the tax credits.


South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump's Golden Dome and China, Xi calls for more public oversight: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing The planned defence system could make it harder for the PLA to strike US bases like those in Guam and Okinawa, or warships trying to defend Taiwan. China has sanctioned the former Senate majority leader of the Philippines Francis Tolentino, a key ally of the Southeast Asian country's President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr on South China Sea issues. Bottles of Remy Martin VSOP cognac, Remy Martin XO cognac and St-Remy XO Brandy are displayed at the Remy Cointreau SA headquarters in Paris, France. Photo: Reuters Beijing has extended an olive branch to French cognac producers by promising a 'significant' tax refund if they cooperate with its anti-dumping investigation into European Union brandy sold in China, according to an industry source with knowledge of the matter.