China on Friday hit back at the U.S. offering temporary "safe haven" on its soil to anti-China elements who disturb the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), saying its scheme of defaming China and destabilizing the HKSAR is doomed to fail.

In a statement, the Office of the Commissioner of China's Foreign Affairs Ministry in the HKSAR said China resolutely opposes any external interference in its internal affairs.

The remarks came after U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday offered temporary "safe haven" to Hong Kong's anti-China elements in the country for up to 18 months, citing "compelling foreign policy reasons" in a memorandum.

The U.S. also alleged the implementation of the national security law in the HKSAR had resulted in the undermining of rights and freedoms in the city.

A spokesperson for the commissioner's office said in response that the U.S. memorandum wantonly slandered and discredited the national security law in HKSAR, which the spokesperson said had helped significantly bring down crimes in the city and restore social order.

The HKSAR government on Friday also expressed strong opposition to the U.S. memorandum. The comments in the memorandum that smeared the national security law for Hong Kong are baseless and purely politically oriented, a spokesperson for the HKSAR government said. 

National security is a matter within the purview of the central authorities and it is the legitimate right and duty of every country to safeguard its national security, the spokesperson said. 
  
The United States has prolific laws on national security but chooses to smear the national security law for Hong Kong out of political motivation, the spokesperson said, stressing that the U.S. act shows clear hypocrisy and double standards. 

Anyone who violates the law should be responsible for their behavior, and people who are wanted for prosecution and have fled Hong Kong are fugitive offenders, the spokesperson said, adding that the HKSAR government will pursue the absconders' legal liabilities in accordance with the law to ensure that offenders face justice. 

(With input from Xinhua)

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