The government on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction and opposition against slanderous remarks made by Western countries and the United States, following the SAR's decision to cancel the passports of seven national security suspects. Seven suspects wanted here, including former lawmakers Ted Hui and Dennis Kwok, have been stripped of their SAR passports, as announced by the authorities on Tuesday, and six more people living overseas were placed on the national security wanted list. A government spokesman said it was necessary to take measures to strike a "strong blow" to combat and deter the acts of abscondment, and procure their return to face law enforcement. "Foreign government officials and politicians, as well as anti-China organisations, deliberately smeared and spread irresponsible remarks on the measures and actions taken by the SAR government in accordance with the law in an attempt to mislead the public," it wrote in a statement. "In fact, all specified measures including the cancellation of SAR passports and eligibility for application align with human rights requirements, and quite a number of countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada would also impose such measures on wanted criminals." The spokesman said absconders should not think they could evade criminal liability by absconding from Hong Kong, and that they would be sanctioned by the law ultimately. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, also expressed strong dissatisfaction to the remarks at a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. "We strongly disapprove and firmly reject countries which blatantly attack and smear Hong Kong police taking enforcement actions. The mentioned people absconded overseas, have long been engaged in interfering in Hong Kong affairs and supporting anti-China," she said. "They attempted to interfere and undermine Hong Kong's development and social stability, seriously endangering national security and damaging Hong Kong's fundamental interests, crossing the bottom line of the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle." She stressed that Hong Kong matters are purely China's internal affairs, and no external forces should intervene in the matters.
