Question: On December 28th, UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab issued a statement, saying that the UK side is “deeply concerned” that the 12 Hong Kongers suspected of illegal border crossing were “tried in secret” in Shenzhen, and asking China to “conduct trials in a fair and transparent manner”. What is the comment of the Chinese Embassy in the UK?
Embassy Spokesperson: On the afternoon of December 28th, the case in question was given an open trial of first instance at the People’s Court of Yantian District in Shenzhen. The relevant personnel tried are suspected of conducting or organizing illegal border crossing. A few deputies of the People’s Congress and members of the People’s Political Consultative Conference from Hong Kong and Shenzhen as well as journalists and relatives of the defendants attended the trial. The statement of the UK side shows no respect for facts and confuses right and wrong. The Chinese side expresses grave concern and firm opposition.
Everyone is equal before the law. No one is above the law. China upholds the rule of law, which means laws must be abided by and lawbreakers must be brought to justice. The handling of the case by China’s judicial institutions in accordance with law brooks no distortion, discredit or interference.
The Chinese side urges the UK side to take concrete steps to abide by international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, China’s internal affairs and China’s judicial sovereignty!
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