On February 19, the website of The Wall Street Journal published (in abridged form) a letter from the spokesperson of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong. The same letter was later published on its February 20 print edition.

In the letter, the spokesperson of the OCMFA refuted the newspaper’s recent editorial on the sentencing of the Jimmy Lai case. He stated that Lai’s trial had been conducted in an open and transparent manner throughout, under the close scrutiny of members of the public, the media, and foreign consular officials.

He pointed out that the newspaper holds serious misunderstandings about the “one country, two systems” principle, noting that “one country” has always been the premise and foundation of “two systems.” He also rejected the claim that a so-called “end of an era” had come to Hong Kong, stressing that what had ended in Hong Kong was the old era marked by rampant violence and chaos caused by anti-China, destabilizing elements; what had begun was a new era of moving from order to prosperity and striving to become a “galloping horse” of economic development.

He made it clear that the Chinese people never provoke trouble, but will never fear it either, and that the threat of bad press or foul-mouthing cannot shake the Chinese people’s resolve to act in accordance with the law.