Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam accused foreign governments of "double standards" in their reaction to Beijing's plans to impose national security laws on the city, pointing to anti-police brutality protests in the United States.
In her first public appearance after Washington said it will remove Hong Kong's preferential treatment in US law in response to Beijing's proposal, Lam warned countries threatening actions against the city they may hurt their own interests.
"They are very concerned about their own national security, but on our national security...they look through tinted glasses," Lam told a weekly news conference.
"In the US we see how the riots were being handled by the local governments, compared to the stance they adopted when almost the same riots happened in Hong Kong last year."
Having lost patience with Hong Kong after large-scale and often-violent pro-democracy protests last year plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its biggest crisis in decades, Beijing authorities last month advanced plans to introduce laws tackling secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference.