Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is taken under police escort to the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts for trial, in Hong Kong, Dec 12, 2020. (PHOTO/XINHUA)

BEIJING - A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Monday rejected the slander brought by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority on the convictions of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and other instigators of Hong Kong riots on illegal assembly charges.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, urged the DPP to stop its political manipulation under the disguise of democracy and human rights, which aims to seek "independence" by destabilizing Hong Kong.

Ma said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's efforts to bring the culprits to book are legitimate and brook no interference.

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