The HKSAR government strongly opposes the remarks made by the United States at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting that ignore the facts and confuse black and white, and urge the United States to stop abusing the WTO platform to smear Hong Kong.
The spokesperson said that the expert group of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body had clearly ruled last year that the origin marking regulations implemented by the United States on Hong Kong products were discriminatory and violated WTO rules, and recommended that the United States make corrections. The United States has repeatedly distorted the facts and made self-serving political opinions on the relevant rulings at the Dispute Settlement Body meeting, undermining the rules-based multilateral trading system of the WTO.
The spokesman added that Hong Kong, China has been urging the United States to respect the ruling and withdraw the erroneous origin labeling regulations. On the one hand, the United States appealed to the Appellate Body on the report of the expert group, and at the same time continued to paralyze the appeal mechanism. Since the end of 2019, it has obstructed the selection process of members of the Appellate Body, and prevented all WTO members from hearing and adjudicating appeals under an effective mechanism.
The SAR government also strongly refuted the groundless and untrue remarks made by the United States on the “Hong Kong National Security Law”. The spokesman emphasized that the SAR government adheres to the rule of law in Hong Kong, fulfills its duties and obligations of safeguarding national security in accordance with the law, and at the same time protects the rights and freedoms enjoyed by citizens in accordance with the law, so as to ensure the steady and long-term implementation of “one country, two systems”.