Beijing blasts criticism of Stand News court verdict
The Foreign Ministry's office in Hong Kong has hit out at statements made by the United States, Britain and the European Union after a court convicted two former editors of the now-defunct online news outlet Stand News of conspiring to publish seditious articles.  US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the verdict "a direct attack on media freedom", while Britain's foreign office minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West, said the SAR administration should "end politicised prosecutions of journalists and uphold press and publication freedoms" and the European Union said the ruling was "yet another sign of the dwindling space for press freedom". In response, the Commissioner's Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong said the court's decision safeguarded national security and the rule of law in Hong Kong.  A spokesperson also criticised the West of using press freedom as a political tool to make excuses for anti-China organisations, and smearing and attacking the rule of law in the SAR to advocate the so-called "chilling effect".  It went to say that press freedom in the territory has been better protected under a safe and stable environment following the implementation of the national security laws, and urged relevant politicians to stop harbouring criminals and interfering in the SAR's judicial and internal affairs.