Hong Kong government rejects EU criticism of freedoms

The Hong Kong government has rejected criticism in the European Union’s 2025 annual report on the city, calling its claims “unfounded and biased”, according to the South China Morning Post. The government issued a statement early on Wednesday, a day after the EU report was published. It disputed the report’s allegation that Hong Kong’s administration is undermining the city’s fundamental freedoms.

The EU assessment was jointly issued by the European Commission and Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The report is described in the source as an annual review of Hong Kong. In its response, the Hong Kong government rejected the report’s claims but the available material does not set out the administration’s detailed arguments or identify specific passages it challenged.

It also does not include a response from the European Union to the government’s statement. The report runs to more than 4,500 words, according to the source. The available extract does not provide further detail on the freedoms discussed, the evidence cited by the EU or any specific policy measures addressed in the assessment.

The dispute places the EU’s evaluation and the Hong Kong government’s response directly at odds. Beyond the government’s description of the report as inaccurate and partial, the supplied material does not support additional conclusions about the findings or their likely consequences.