China News Service, Hong Kong, March 16 (Xinhua) The Hong Kong SAR government expressed its dissatisfaction and condemnation on the 16th over a BBC report on the imprisonment of protesters during the 2019 "black violence", which used false accusations to discredit the SAR's laws on safeguarding national security.

  A spokesman for the SAR government pointed out that Article 1 of the Hong Kong National Security Law has clearly stated the purpose of enacting the law, which is to unswervingly and fully and accurately implement the principles of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy.

The report completely ignored the relevant provisions and used false accusations to slander Hong Kong's national security law and weaken Hong Kong's autonomy. The SAR government needs to correct it.

  The spokesman said that Hong Kong's national security law targets people who engage in behaviors and activities that endanger national security.

In fact, endangering national security is a serious crime, and no country will stand by and watch behaviors and activities that endanger national security.

Reports with false accusations attempt to shift the focus and make people mistakenly believe that the purpose of Hong Kong's national security law is to "make it easier to prosecute protesters", creating a negative impression of the law.

  The spokesperson mentioned that the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong SAR Government is in charge of criminal prosecution work under the protection of Article 63 of the Hong Kong Basic Law and is not subject to any interference.

All prosecution decisions of the Department of Justice are made based on evidence and applicable law in accordance with the Prosecution Code and other guidelines.

The Department of Justice will only initiate prosecutions when there is sufficient evidence to give the case a reasonable chance of conviction and when it is in the public interest.

  The spokesperson pointed out that the SAR government will continue to proactively and immediately refute any false accusations against the laws to safeguard national security to prevent the public from being misled.

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