The central and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities on Thursday said they strongly opposed the defamation and smears by G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy regarding the national security trial of former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

The Hong Kong High Court on Monday convicted Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, on all three charges — two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security, and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

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In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong SAR said it strongly opposed the G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, and officials from Canada, New Zealand, France, Japan and others for ignoring the facts and distorting the truth by issuing statements on Lai’s conviction, when they openly spoke up for a criminal who endangered Hong Kong’s order and national security.

A spokesperson for the office said such actions amount to gross interference in the SAR’s judiciary and China’s internal affairs, and voiced strong disapproval.

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The spokesperson stated that Lai’s crimes endangering national security were clearly established with solid evidence, and that the trial was conducted openly and transparently, with both sides fully presenting and challenging evidence.

The statement criticized certain countries for turning a blind eye to the 855-page verdict while whitewashing Lai as a so-called “democracy fighter” or “press freedom advocate”, calling such actions a blatant trampling of the rule of law.

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Also on Thursday, the Hong Kong SAR government slammed G7 foreign ministers and Kallas in a statement, rebuffing their attempts to whitewash Lai’s case. A government spokesperson reiterated that the verdict was made in strict accordance with the law and evidence without any political considerations whatsoever.

“National security is a matter of paramount importance to every country. Each state enacts laws to safeguard national security, which is not only an inherent right of every sovereign state under international law and the basic norms of international relations based on the United Nations Charter, but also common international practice,” the spokesperson said, calling the whitewash blatant “double standards”.