National Security Law Photo: VCG

The commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong recently met US Consul General to Hong Kong Gregory May and made a solemn representation on a series of wrong words and acts interfering in Hong Kong's affairs, and drawing three redlines for the US Consulate General in Hong Kong, the Global Times learned on Thursday. 

Liu Guangyuan, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recently met May and expressed strong dissatisfaction on a series of wrong words and actions interfering in Hong Kong's affairs, the Global Times learned. Some local media reports described the meeting as a "rare one."

The Chinese diplomat also urged May to abide by professional ethics as a diplomat and not to walk further down the wrong path. Liu also drew up three redlines for the US official and the US Consulate General in Hong Kong: do not endanger China's national security, do not engage in political infiltration and do not smear and damage the development prospects of the city.

The fresh warning was made after China noted some facts about the words and deeds by the US official that were detrimental to national security, to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and to its international reputation, Lau Siu-kai, a consultant from the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and also a senior policy advisor, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

"With the anti-China rioters being held accountable under the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong, the Chinese government won't tolerate the US-led West to replace those rioters to instigate local residents or divide Hong Kong society," Lau said. 

May arrived in the US Consulate General in Hong Kong in September 2022, having previously served as US Consul General in Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province from 2016 to 2019 and as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from 2019, the South China Morning Post said. 

He criticized the NSL for Hong Kong during an online event in January, saying that many Hong Kong residents do not agree with how the cases of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and other defendants charged under the NSL for Hong Kong were handled. May also commented on the law interpretation by China's top legislature in December, saying that it "enlarged the power of the administration without being properly monitored by a judicial body," according to local media reports. 

The Commissioner's Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hit back at those claims, criticizing May for ignoring the promising prospects of Hong Kong society and slandering the city's rule of law and freedom, as well as showing support for anti-China rioters. 

May's predecessor Hanscom Smith is remembered by many Hong Kong residents as a political figure who tried to interfere in China's internal affairs, sabotage the principle of One country, Two systems and incite subversion after he assumed his post as consul general to Hong Kong and Macao in 2019. Some Hong Kong officials told the Global Times in previous interviews that Smith arrived in the city three years ago with hidden tasks from the US government, with one of them being "supporting the opposition forces in Hong Kong for illegal assemblies and undermining national security."