HONG KONG, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Friday strongly condemned the untruthful remarks, slanders and smears against the HKSAR in the so-called six-monthly report released by the United Kingdom (UK).

In a statement, a spokesperson for the HKSAR government said that the government strongly condemns and firmly rejects the UK's attempt to wantonly smear the human rights and rule of law situation of Hong Kong, and interfere in its law-based governance by despicable political maneuvers.

The HKSAR government steadfastly safeguards the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people as protected under the law, the spokesperson said, stressing that human rights in the city have always been robustly guaranteed constitutionally by both the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law since Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

The spokesperson also expressed strong opposition against the absurd and false contents in the report regarding the laws and relevant efforts to safeguard national security in the HKSAR, which shows the UK's double standards and hypocritical behavior. ■