Beijing slams foreign news outlets for ‘smearing’ Hong Kong national security law
Chinese foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong accuses BBC News Chinese, Nikkei of ‘distorted reports, comments or editorials’
The Chinese foreign ministry’s arm in Hong Kong has slammed overseas media outlets for “smearing” the Beijing-imposed national security law with their coverage of the fifth anniversary of its implementation.
In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, the Commissioner’s Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong slammed BBC News Chinese and Japanese newspaper the Nikkei for “distorted reports, comments or editorials”.
“[These pieces] were rooted in ideological bias … [and] deliberately smear the national security law and discredit the successful practice of ‘one country, two systems’ in Hong Kong,” a spokesman said.
The office urged the outlets involved to stop publishing “erroneous remarks” about Hong Kong. The office did not specify which articles it was referring to.
On June 30, BBC News Chinese launched a special series that reviewed the law’s impact on local society, and included interviews with teachers, students and other members of the public. The outlet also described the series as offering perspectives from everyday people on the effectiveness of national security education over the past five years.
One article, titled “The national security law’s fifth anniversary in Hong Kong: six charts illustrating its integration into residents’ daily lives”, detailed arrest and conviction figures under the 2020 law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.