On 13 May, the Chinese Embassy in the UK issued a statement, strongly condemning the UK’s malicious fabrication and unwarranted accusation against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government. The statement is as follows:

On the morning of 13 May, Biritsh police made an announcement on charging three men with allegedly assisting Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service. The Chinese side firmly rejects and strongly condemns the UK’s fabrication of the so-called case and its unwarranted accusation against the HKSAR government, and has made serious representations to the UK side on the matter.

For some time now, the UK has staged a series of accusations against China, including those on “China spies” and cyber attacks. All those accusations are groundless and slanderous. The British side has also wantonly harassed, arrested and detained Chinese citizens in the UK under the pretext of judicial and national security. This constitutes a grave provocation against China and severely contravenes the basic norms governing international relations.

It must be stressed that Hong Kong has long returned to China. Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong. The UK has no right and is in no position to point fingers at and meddle in Hong Kong affairs. The Chinese government remains firmly resolved in fighting anti-China elements seeking to disrupt Hong Kong and in upholding the stability and prosperity of the region. The UK’s harbouring of wanted criminals tramples on the rule of law and leads nowhere. 

We urge the UK side to immediately correct its wrongdoing, stop spreading the so-call “China threat theory”, end all forms of political manipulation against China, and ensure all the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the UK. 

We would like to make it clear to the UK side: any political trick to divert public attention and cover up its own serious problems by smearing China is doomed to failure, and any move to interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine our interests will be met with a firm response. The UK side must not go further down the wrong path of jeopardising China-UK relations.