Hong Kong slams European Commission report over ‘unfounded and biased’ criticism

Hong Kong has hit back at the European Commission’s annual report, which claimed the city’s autonomy and freedoms were in “continued erosion”, citing the enactment of domestic national security legislation and the high-profile trials of opposition activists.

The Hong Kong government on Tuesday evening said it “strongly disapproved of and rejected the unfounded and biased content” of the report and urged the European Union to cease interfering in the city’s affairs.

“The HKSAR Government strongly urges the EU to respect facts, abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations that it claims to uphold, and immediately stop its long-arm jurisdiction and interference in Hong Kong matters, which are purely China’s internal affairs,” a spokesman said.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, released a 31-page report on Hong Kong’s development in 2024 on Monday, concluding that there was a “continued erosion” of the city’s autonomy, fundamental freedoms and people’s rights.

“On matters considered relevant to national security, the rule of law in Hong Kong remained under severe strain in 2024,” it read.

“The space for political opposition and pluralistic voices in Hong Kong shrank further in 2024.”

The European Commission highlighted the enactment of the “sweeping” Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in March last year, which covers 39 offences grouped into five categories: treason; insurrection, incitement to mutiny and disaffection, and acts with seditious intention; sabotage; external interference; and theft of state secrets and espionage.