The Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Thursday said that it firmly supports HKSAR judicial organs handing out punishments to actions and activities that endanger national security and that external forces' attempts to interfere are futile.

Overgeneralizing and abusing the concept of national security, the United States and a few other countries have openly shielded and beautified criminals, said a spokesperson for the office.

Their repeated acts of coercion and intimidation have never shaken the will and determination of the HKSAR to safeguard national security according to law, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson underscored that the so-called "primary election" organized by Benny Tai Yiu-ting and other defendants in the "conspiracy to subvert the state power" case was an organized, premeditated, consensual and large-scale criminal activity aimed at subverting state power.

The spokesperson said the central government remains committed to fully and accurately implementing the principle of "one country, two systems" and will unswervingly support the HKSAR in implementing the national security law in Hong Kong and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

(Cover: A view of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, south China, July 7, 2024. /CFP)