Editor's Note: The spokesperson of the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region issued a statement on Sunday refuting the US State Department's claim that the extraterritorial application of the National Security Law for Hong Kong is a dangerous precedent that threatens the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people all over the world. The following are excerpts of the statement:

No rights and freedoms can break through the bottom line of national security. No country will turn a blind eye to acts endangering national security. It is a common practice for all countries to maintain national security by enforcing laws and holding lawbreakers accountable.

Some anti-China elements are suspected of colluding with foreign or overseas forces to endanger national security. The Hong Kong police are taking necessary investigation and law enforcement actions toward personnel associated with them in accordance with law.

The United States' own national security legislation is airtight, but it frequently imposes long-arm jurisdiction and illegal unilateral sanctions on other countries, and suppresses dissidents through various despicable means. The label of "transnational repression" applies more to the US than any other country. Instead of self-examination, the US blames the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities for their legitimate law enforcement and voices support for the anti-China elements in Hong Kong. What it did is a naked trampling on the rule of law in the SAR, and reflects its ideological prejudice and sinister intention to disrupt the Hong Kong SAR and China.

It is the common will of people from all walks of life in Hong Kong to unswervingly safeguard the rule of law and order and the prosperity and stability of the SAR. The Chinese government and people are also determined to safeguard national sovereignty and security, and the country's development interests. We urge the US side to stop employing a hypocritical double standard, end the botched political performance, withdraw the "black hand" with which it is interfering in the Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and abandon its wishful thinking of damaging the implementation of the national security law.