China's HK, Macao affairs office: Jimmy Lai sentencing shows HKSAR's resolve to safeguard national security

Whoever dares to challenge the laws that safeguard national security will be severely punished, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Monday.

The office made the remarks in response to the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) sentencing Jimmy Lai, an instigator of anti-China riots in the HKSAR, to 20 years in prison on Monday morning.

The sentencing of Lai fully demonstrates the HKSAR's firm resolve to safeguard national security, the office said in a statement, adding that Lai's actions and activities seriously violate the Hong Kong national security law and relevant laws of the HKSAR, severely challenge the bottom line of the "One Country, Two Systems," impact the HKSAR's constitutional order and severely undermine Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

As the main planner, organizer and participant in a series of anti-China riots, Lai's evil deeds have caused profound harm to the HKSAR and the country, the office said, adding that people have long recognized that Lai has never been a so-called "fighter for freedom, democracy and human rights," but rather the culprit harming the fundamental interests of the country and the well-being of Hong Kong residents.

"We firmly support the HKSAR in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to safeguard national security," it said, stressing that all acts and activities that endanger national security will be cracked down on, and all attempts to undermine Hong Kong's progress from governance to prosperity and disrupt Hong Kong to contain China will be thwarted.