Officials from the central and local governments sharply criticized a United States government report that slanders Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” framework and the special administrative region’s law-based governance.

In a statement issued on late Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong SAR government called the “2025 Annual Report”, issued by the United States Congressional-Executive Commission on China, as biased, slanderous and offensive.

Laying bare the double standards of the West, the statement said Western countries like the US itself have enacted multiple pieces of legislation and implemented measures to safeguard national security.

“Such attempts to undermine the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and interfere in the city's law-based governance are doomed to fail,” the spokesperson said.

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The Hong Kong SAR government will resolutely, fully, and faithfully implement the Hong Kong National Security Law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, and other laws that preserve national security within the HKSAR, to effectively crack down on any acts and activities endangering national security, the statement said.

The HKSAR government also said it will continue sustaining the common law system, adhering to the principle of the rule of law, and upholding the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people under law to ensure the continued success of the principle of “one country, two systems”.

The Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong SAR also slammed the report on Thursday, saying some of the remarks were smears and groundless attacks against the special administrative region’s “one country, two systems” governing principle and human rights situation.

In its rebuke, the office said that global recognition of Hong Kong’s successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle reflects the city’s achievement in safeguarding its residents’ rights and freedoms.

It added that the city’s national security laws safeguarded the city’s long-term stability and prosperity.

The office said the recent successful formation of the eighth-term Legislative Council of the HKSAR, emerging from an electoral process characterized by “wide representation”, “political inclusiveness”, “balanced participation”, and “fair competition” had displayed a form of high-quality democracy aligning with Hong Kong’s actual circumstances.

In Hong Kong — a rule-of-law society, where legality and equality are fundamental — no one enjoys privilege above the law, and those who violate it must be held accountable in accordance with legal provisions, the office spokesperson said.

The spokesman also slammed US “double standards” over the city’s national security laws, saying that some American politicians have chosen to overlook glaring domestic failures in democracy, liberty, and human rights, alongside widespread social disorder, while continuing to point fingers abroad in a malicious attempt to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.

Bill Tang Ka-piu, a veteran Hong Kong lawmaker with the Kowloon East geographical constituency, told China Daily that such reports — heavily driven by political motives, cloaked in the guise of investigations — are tactics routinely employed by some US commissions to tarnish Hong Kong’s global standing, with an aim to churn out unfounded leverage for the US government in its broader negotiations with its Chinese counterpart.

“They are sure enough, biased, untrue, and lack credibility”, Tang said.

The US has long reaped major economic gains from its trade with Hong Kong, with a surplus of over $270 billion in the past 10 years, Tang said, quoting figures in the HKSAR government’s statement.

“Moves by such US commissions to undermine the relationship and trust between the two sides are extremely foolish and shortsighted,” he said.

Responding to the claim of Hong Kong’s free speech has been eroded, Tang said the situation is on the contrary, noting curbs on free expression in the US had become “alarming” in recent times.

Citing tighter scrutiny of social media activities by international students, Tang said, “The US faces numerous social problems of its own and should focus on managing its own affairs.”

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com