While it did not name anyone, the Hong Kong government’s statement on Friday said allegations voiced by “certain officials and politicians” from the US, UK and European Parliament were “totally unfounded and amounted to a serious intervention in Hong Kong’s affairs”. “The SAR Government strongly disagreed with the grossly irresponsible remarks and expressed deep regret about them,” it said.
On Thursday the Guardian reported the last British governor to Hong Kong, Chris Patten, had urged the UK government to step in on the deteriorating political situation in Hong Kong. Patten said the Chinese Communist Party had taken advantage of the pandemic to “turn the screws on Hong Kong”.
Last month Beijing’s top organisations in the region, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) and the liaison office, weighed into domestic political arguments, drawing accusations they were acting in contravention to Hong Kong’s mini constitution, the Basic Law.
