HONG KONG — The Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said Friday that it is fully justified to punish crimes according to the law and stressed the unwavering determination to safeguard national security. 

After Apple Daily executives were arrested on suspicion of breaching the National Security Law in the HKSAR and the news- paper stopped publishing on its own, some Western politicians wantonly accused China of suppressing “press freedom” in Hong Kong and launched a slander campaign against the national security law in the HKSAR, the spokesperson of the office said. 

The actions taken by the HKSAR government against Apple Daily are just moves aimed at safeguarding national security and Hong Kong’s peace, and have nothing to do with so-called press freedom, a spokesperson for the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR said 

Those politicians have interfered in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs as a whole and seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations, the spokesperson said, expressing strong condemnation and disapproval. 

ALSO READ: Tabloid Apple Daily meets its logical end

The Hong Kong police on June 18 charged Apple Daily Editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong, 47, and CEO of the newspaper’s parent company Next Digital Cheung Kim-hung, 59, with collusion with external forces to endanger national security. 

The actions taken by the HKSAR government against Apple Daily are just moves aimed at safeguarding national security and Hong Kong’s peace, and have nothing to do with so-called press freedom, the spokesperson said. 

After shutting down more than 30 foreign news websites a few days ago, the US government now is pointing its fingers at the law enforcement operation by the HKSAR government and trying to make excuses for suspects, the spokesperson said, stressing that the United States has blatantly distorted facts and adopted double standards. 

Apple Daily has had a notorious record over the last two decades, violating journalistic ethics, spreading disinformation, colluding with external forces and endangering national security, and has become a “political tool” to destabilize Hong Kong and smear China, the spokesperson said. 

READ MORE: 'Free press' a fig leaf that can't cover traitorous acts

People from various sectors in Hong Kong have actually celebrated the closure of the newspaper, the spokesperson said. 

The rule of law is Hong Kong’s core value and the HKSAR government’s determination to administer Hong Kong and punish crimes according to the law will not be wavered by attacks by a few foreign governments and politicians, the spokesperson said. 

The overwhelming trend of Hong Kong returning to peace and prosperity from chaos will not be changed, the spokesper- son said.