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Emily Hung

The Hong Kong government has rejected an annual European Union report alleging that the administration is undermining the city’s fundamental freedoms, calling its claims “unfounded and biased”.
The more than 4,500-word statement, issued early on Wednesday, followed the publication on Tuesday of the EU’s 2025 annual report on Hong Kong. The report was jointly issued by the European Commission and the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas.
It highlighted national security trials involving opposition activists, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Joshua Wong Chi-fung, as well as the disbandment of the Democratic Party ahead of the second “patriots-only” Legislative Council election, among other issues.
“The [Hong Kong] government strongly urges the EU to respect facts, abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and immediately stop its long-arm jurisdiction and interference in Hong Kong matters, which are purely China’s internal affairs,” a government spokesman said in the statement.
The spokesman said the administration “strongly disapproved of and rejected the unfounded and biased content against various aspects of [Hong Kong] in the so-called annual report on Hong Kong”, adding that the city was an inalienable part of China and enjoyed a high degree of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” principle.
He added that the implementation of the national security law and related legislation had effectively safeguarded national security, restored stability and social order, and provided a foundation for developments in Hong Kong’s economy, social life and other areas.
The spokesman said the EU and its member states had also continuously enacted and amended laws in the name of national security or counterterrorism, with harsh provisions “ubiquitous”.
“The EU disregards its own broad and stringent laws and regulations, repeatedly distorts and confounds right and wrong, unscrupulously smears the laws for safeguarding national security in [Hong Kong], which were strictly enacted according to its actual circumstances, continues to harbour biased comments against relevant laws, which is typical hypocrisy with double standards,” he said.

The statement also asserted that constitutional rights, press freedom and academic independence remained protected, although they were subject to standard legal boundaries and the principles of “responsible journalism”.
“Contrarily, 14 of the 27 countries in the EU were involved in the scandal for using the ‘Pegasus’ spyware to monitor media and citizens. They have absolutely no right to make absurd and fact-twisting comments on the issue of press freedom. The so-called report abuses press freedom as an excuse to break the law, again exposing the EU’s biased stance and double standards all along,” it said.
The EU report said that Hong Kong’s national security proceedings placed the city’s rule of law under “severe strain”, pointing to considerable delays, prolonged pretrial detentions, the repeated use of solitary confinement, adjudication by hand-picked judges and the absence of juries in some high-profile national security trials.
It also detailed the extraterritorial reach of the national security law, referring to arrest warrants with bounties issued for 34 overseas activists, including a European citizen. The report also cited the prosecution of Kwok Yin-sang, father of wanted activist Anna Kwok Fung-yee, under the Article 23 legislation.
On the political front, the EU said the remaining space for political pluralism had continued to shrink as the remaining opposition groups – the Democratic Party and the League of Social Democrats – were disbanded under heavy political pressure.
“The erosion of Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and of the fundamental freedoms and rights of the people of Hong Kong continued, despite China’s legal obligation to maintain them until at least 2047,” it said.
The government spokesman defended the city’s independent judicial power and due process, saying high-profile national security trials were conducted strictly according to the evidence and law, without political interference. He also defended the revamp of the electoral system.
“There is no single model of democracy in the world. The 27 member states of the EU each have different electoral systems and political traditions, which fully demonstrates that the forms in which democracy is implemented are inherently diverse,” he said.
The Legislative Council also issued a statement expressing “strong dissatisfaction and opposition” to what it called false and biased content in the EU report, condemning it for distorting facts and smearing the city’s national security laws.
A Legco spokesman rejected allegations of democratic backsliding, maintaining that the revamped “patriots-only” electoral overhaul ensured broad representation and balanced participation.
He added that under the new electoral system, Legco had moved past its previous legislative paralysis and returned to “effective governance”.


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Hong Kong

Politics

Hong Kong government says the report misrepresents national security laws, ignores protections for rights and applies double standards


Hong Kong government says the report misrepresents national security laws, ignores protections for rights and applies double standards.


Hong Kong rejects EU report’s claims on freedoms as ‘unfounded and biased’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong government says the report misrepresents national security laws, ignores protections for rights and applies double standards

Hong Kong government says the report misrepresents national security laws, ignores protections for rights and applies double standards