The HKSAR government on Thursday expressed its strong disapproval and objection to the slanders and smears by the G7, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, as well as the High Representative of the European Union, after the court convicted former media mogul Jimmy Lai of national security-related offences.

"Safeguarding national security is a top priority of every country. In accordance with international law and international relations based on the Charter of the United Nations, it is each and every sovereign state's inherent right to enact laws safeguarding national security, and it is also an international practice,” an SAR government spokesperson said in a statement.

“No country will watch with folded arms and tolerate any of such acts and activities endangering national security without taking any action. The relevant countries have also enacted legislation to combat collusion with foreign forces.”

The government accused these countries of double standards, adding that they showed no respect for Hong Kong’s court, which exercised its judicial powers independently based on facts and evidence.

“Instead, they wantonly vilified the HKSAR prosecutorial and judicial authorities' discharge of their duties in accordance with the law as 'undermining rights and freedoms', and continued to unscrupulously distort the facts to criticise the HKSAR,” the spokesman said, while describing their bullying behaviour as “extremely ugly and despicable”.

The government stressed the court made its decision entirely free from any political considerations, adding that the 855-page verdict clearly laid out the legal principles and evidence that had been considered, as well as the reasons for convicting Lai and the three defendant companies.

It called on the countries to stop violating international law and the fundamental principles of international relations, and refrain from interfering in Hong Kong affairs, which are purely China's internal matters.