Beijing and Hong Kong have hit out at the United States’ top envoy in the city after he told foreign media that the “one country, two systems” governing principle existed only in the “economic realm”.
The Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday US Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau Gregory May should abide by the “basic professional ethics and codes of conduct of consular officials”.
“We advise Consul General May to abide by his duty, change his ways, give up his intention of ‘using Hong Kong to contain China’ as soon as possible and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs,” a spokesman said.
He argued that May should do more “practical things to promote cooperation” between Hong Kong and Washington instead of “spending time fabricating lies and attacking and badmouthing the city”.
The office said Hong Kong had returned to stability following the enactment of national security laws and residents enjoyed their rights in accordance with the law, adding there was no absolute freedom in the world.
The fiery criticism stemmed from May’s recent interview with CBS News in which he reviewed the changes in Hong Kong over the past five years after the months-long anti-government protests in 2019. Beijing imposed a national security law on the city the following year in response to the unrest.
May argued in the interview that Hong Kong was “fundamentally changed”, with people’s rights and freedoms being taken away.
“People in Hong Kong are not free to criticise the government like they used to be able to,” he said in an article published on Tuesday.
“When you look at the economic space – that Hong Kong still has its own currency, its own customs – the business environment here is significantly different than it is in mainland China.
“So in the economic realm, one country, two systems is still there. But the more important realm, for our purposes, is in the broader political and way-of-life realm, and that is clearly no longer the case here.”
May also said the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in March had created a “massive chilling effect over Hong Kong”.
“It is important, I think, that Americans who come here realise that you need to be careful what you say,” May said.
On Wednesday night, Hong Kong authorities slammed May for making “absurd and unfounded remarks” on local affairs, saying it “strongly disapproved of and condemned” the comments.
“The US has ignored the large-scale and incessant riots that occurred in 2019 that devastated society, livelihoods and the economy of Hong Kong,” a spokesman said.
“Instead, it piled up false stories and fabricated narratives to maliciously slander laws relevant to safeguarding national security.”
The US had also deliberately neglected that the national security law had allowed the business environment to return to normality, “exposing its hypocrisy with double standards”, it said.
