The statement from China’s foreign ministry arm in Hong Kong on Tuesday was in response to remarks by Jim Risch, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the European External Action Service.

Risch said that Hong Kong had become “no different from China” since the Beijing-imposed national security law was enacted five years ago, while the EU body said the legislation had resulted in a continuous erosion of civil liberties in the city.

The day after Hong Kong marked the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-decreed national security law’s promulgation, a spokesman for the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the US official and EU body’s remarks.

“Certain politicians have disregarded their own poor track record on human rights and the rule of law, ignoring the facts of Hong Kong’s prosperity, stability and people’s well-being,” he said.

“Their open interference in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs has exposed their hypocrisy, double standards and malicious intention to contain China through Hong Kong.”

Tuesday also marks the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty.