Beijing slams top US envoy in Hong Kong over ‘blatantly supporting Jimmy Lai and other anti-China disrupters’ after ‘soft repression’ claims

China’s foreign ministry arm in the city hits out at US Consul General Gregory May, who accused authorities of curbing freedom of expression beyond its borders

May was speaking at online forum organised by think tank that recently released report claiming erosion of city’s high degree of autonomy

Reading Time:4 minutes

China’s foreign ministry arm in Hong Kong says that democracy has continued to improve and economic development has steadily picked up. Photo: Warton Li

Published: 12:11pm, 10 May 2024Updated: 5:57pm, 10 May 2024

Beijing has slammed the top US envoy in Hong Kong over “blatantly” supporting “anti-China disrupters” and intervening in internal affairs after he accused the local administration of carrying out “soft repression” and curbing freedom of expression beyond its borders.

The strongly worded statement issued by China’s foreign ministry arm in the city on Thursday night was in response to criticisms made by Gregory May, US consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, during an online forum organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a non-profit think tank based in Washington.

“It is the right time for the judicial authorities to conduct fair trials and punish a small group of anti-China disrupters in Hong Kong in order to eliminate potential national security risks,” a spokesman for the commissioner’s office of China’s foreign ministry said.

“The US consul general in Hong Kong blatantly supported Jimmy Lai [Chee-ying] and other anti-China disrupters in Hong Kong, and interfered in Hong Kong affairs and [mainland China’s] internal affairs.”

The spokesman added the office expressed its “firm opposition and strong condemnation”.

May told viewers of the online event that the US would continue to call for the release of Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, and other political figures who were “in detention for their peaceful expression of political views”, while also pushing for the withdrawal of bounties on democracy activists overseas.