This Nov 17, 2016 photo shows the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Central, Hong Kong. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Tuesday strongly disapproved and firmly rejected the irresponsible comments made by Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom James Cleverly at the UN Human Rights Council over Hong Kong.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the office slammed the British Foreign Secretary after he attacked the National Security Law for the HKSAR, slandered the human rights situation in Hong Kong, and grossly interfered into Hong Kong affairs. 

The NSL  targets only a very small number of criminals who engage in activities that endanger China’s national security, and effectively protects the lawful rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents, said a spokesperson of the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR

“We urge the British side to stop trampling on Hong Kong’s rule of law,” the spokesperson said. “The UK must stop any political performances and any colonial nostalgia about Hong Kong!”

The spokesperson said that the NSL protects the rights and freedoms--including the rights and freedoms of speech, the press, publication and assembly--enjoyed by Hong Kong residents under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

ALSO READ: 'Political motivation' behind UK minister's NSL remarks 

“However, no right and freedom should cross the bottom line of national security, which is not only an explicit provision of the relevant international conventions, but also the common legal practice of all countries,” the spokesperson said. 

The NSL targets only a very small number of criminals who engage in activities that endanger China’s national security, and effectively protects the lawful rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents, the spokesperson added.  

The spokesperson noted that the UK itself has more rigorous legal frameworks for safeguarding national security, “but turns to vilify the national security law for the HKSAR, which shows nothing but sheer double standard and contempt for the rule of law spirit of the UK!”

The spokesperson stressed that after Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, the legal basis for the Chinese Central Government to govern the HKSAR is the Chinese Constitution and the Basic Law of Hong Kong, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. 

ALSO READ: Hypocrisy of West's criticism of HK's NSL exposed to all

“The British side has neither sovereignty nor the right to governance and supervision over Hong Kong after 1997. The UK is distorting history and legal principles by citing the Sino-British Joint Declaration to judge Hong Kong affairs,” the spokesperson said.

“During the British colonial rule, Chinese were excluded from Hong Kong’s governance structure for a long time, and the Public order Ordinance and the Societies Ordinance imposed strict restrictions on assembly, procession and association, so at that time, people of Hong Kong had no democracy, human rights and freedom at all,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson noted that, in recent years, the British side has repeatedly played the so-called “BNO card” and “judge card” and put together misleading reports to discredit the rule of law and human rights situation in Hong Kong. 

“However, no one buys it because people around the world have seen through the hypocrisy of the UK,” the spokesperson said.

READ MORE: HKSAR govt: Residents’ rights well-protected with NSL

The spokesperson pointed out that the UK has a bad record on human rights while the number of British people living under the poverty line is increasing, British people’s rights to life and health are overlooked, the living conditions of ethnic minorities in the UK continue to deteriorate, and its crime rate has repeatedly hit record highs. 

“The British side is in no position to wade into the human rights situation of others at the UN Human Rights Council,” the spokesperson said. "We urge the British side to have serious self-reflection, recognize the reality, and put itself in the right position."