“The European side blatantly supports the anti-China forces who incited social confrontation in Hong Kong, split the country and subverted the regime,” the spokesman said.

He added that “external forces” such as the European Commission should “give up the farce” of publishing such reports, and called for it to “immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs.”

“Facts have proven that today’s Hong Kong is peaceful and prosperous, having entered the best period for competing economically and pursuing development,” the spokesman said.

Earlier on Thursday, the commission, the EU’s executive arm, issued a 27-page report outlining the political and economic developments in the city in 2023, saying the one country, two systems principle was being dismantled.

“The 2023 annual report illustrates in great detail the continuous erosion of the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and the dismantling of the one country, two systems principle,” commission vice-president and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

Roughly half of the report was on the city’s political situation, its implementation of the Beijing-imposed law and related court cases, and what the Europeans saw as curtailment of freedoms under the legislation.

The national security law was promulgated by central authorities in June 2020 after months of often violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

The city government passed its own domestic national security law earlier this year outlawing five types of offences.

The government also defended the Beijing-imposed national security legislation, saying the scope of its application was fully aligned with the principles of international law and common practice adopted in various countries and regions.