A spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong Wednesday strongly refuted the US State Department's report on human rights situation in Hong Kong.

Commenting on the criticism made by the US State Department's human rights report of the human rights situation in Hong Kong, the spokesperson denounced the US State Department's report as "unwarranted charges on the human rights situation in Hong Kong."

"We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the report," the spokesperson stressed.

Hong Kong is part of China, and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's (SAR) affairs are the internal matters of China, the spokesperson noted, adding that foreign countries have no right to make inappropriate comments about and wantonly interfere in Hong Kong's affairs.

The spokesperson said that over the past three years and more since Hong Kong's return to China, facts have proven that the China's Central Government has always stuck to the principle of "one country, two systems" and never interfered in affairs within the high degree of autonomy enjoyed by the Hong Kong SAR.

The SAR government has exercised administration strictly in accordance with the Basic Law, the spokesperson said. The Hong Kong people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and continued to enjoy broad human rights, democracy and freedom guaranteed by the law, the spokesperson said.

"It is a fact widely acknowledged," the spokesperson emphasized. "It is utterly unjustifiable for the US State Department's human rights report to ignore the facts and make unwarranted charges on the human rights situation in Hong Kong."

(Xinhua 02/28/2001)