Executive Council member and senior counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah said Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s attempt to seek foreign sanctions against China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region borders on treason.

“Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s act of seeking foreign sanctions against China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, an act that harms his compatriots, borders on treason. To depict such acts as human rights and freedoms is a complete contradiction of the definitions of human rights and freedoms, which are affirmed by the international community,” he told China Daily on Wednesday.

The Court of First Instance of the High Court found Lai guilty on Monday of two counts of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications.

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Tong noted that national security laws around the world are designed to protect national interests, though the specific threats to those interests may vary from one country to another.

“Some Western nations do not face attempts to subvert their own governments or sanctions imposed by other countries. This is because such acts are typically perpetrated only by some Western countries against other nations,” he said.

Tong said he believes that the fundamental purpose of all national security legislation is to safeguard national interests, and that this objective does not conflict with the protection of human rights and freedoms.

He emphasized that such rights and freedoms should not cover acts that undermine national security.

“These are self-evident truths that everyone understands. Yet some Western media outlets and politicians continue to feign ignorance,” Tong stated. “I believe they are fully aware of the facts — their actions are simply hypocritical and willfully defy common sense.”

Fu Yinglin contributed to the story.