China said on Thursday it is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to the "denigration and smearing" by the United States of the new Hong Kong security law passed earlier this week.
Beijing urged Washington to respect China's sovereignty, and immediately stop meddling in its internal affairs, the Chinese embassy in the U.S. said in a statement on its website in response to State Department comments.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday that the U.S. believes the new national security bill has the potential to accelerate the closing of a once-open society.
Patel said the crimes outlined in the legislation are poorly defined and incredibly vague and that Washington is analyzing the potential risks to U.S. citizens and American interests.
Others including Britain, Canada, the European Union and United Nations have lined up to raise concerns about the bill that will take effect from Saturday.
The Chinese embassy said the bill "punishes a very small number of criminals who endanger national security and protects the vast majority of law-abiding Hong Kong residents", adding that normal activities of foreign organisations, enterprises and personnel are fully protected by law.
The package, known as Article 23, punishes offences including treason, sabotage, sedition, the theft of state secrets, external interference and espionage with sentences ranging from several years to life imprisonment.
中方譴責美國批評香港新國安法
中國週四表示，對美方對本週稍早通過的香港新國安法的「詆毀和抹黑」表示強烈不滿和堅決反對。
中國駐美國大使館在其網站上針對國務院的評論發表聲明稱，北京敦促華盛頓尊重中國主權，立即停止干涉中國內政。
美國國務院副發言人維丹特·帕特爾週二表示，美國認為新的國家安全法案有可能加速關閉曾經開放的社會。
帕特爾表示，立法中概述的罪行定義不明確，而且極其模糊，華盛頓正在分析對美國公民和美國利益的潛在風險。
英國、加拿大、歐盟和聯合國等其他國家也紛紛對該法案將於週六生效表示擔憂。
中國大使館表示，該法案“懲治了極少數危害國家安全的犯罪分子，保護了絕大多數守法的香港居民”，並補充說，外國組織、企業和人員的正常活動受到法律的充分保護。
該一攬子計畫被稱為第 23 條，對叛國、破壞、煽動叛亂、竊取國家機密、外部干涉和間諜活動等罪行的處罰從幾年到無期徒刑不等。
Source: Reuters
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