By Farah Master
HONG&nbsp;KONG&nbsp;(Reuters) -China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;said&nbsp;resolutions&nbsp;passed by the&nbsp;European&nbsp;Parliament on Thursday related to the Chinese controlled territory were a "despicable act" and "trampled" on the principles of international law.
The&nbsp;European&nbsp;Parliament's&nbsp;resolution titled "The deterioration of fundamental freedoms in&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong, notably the case of Jimmy Lai" urged&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong's government to release and drop charges against the pro-democracy tycoon and other activists.
It also called for the&nbsp;European&nbsp;Council to introduce "targeted sanctions" against city leader John Lee and other officials "responsible for the ongoing crackdown on human rights in&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong". It did not elaborate on what the sanctions should be.
The United States sanctioned Lee in 2020 for what they said was his role in cracking down on political freedoms in the city after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;in June that year.
The law punishes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
China&nbsp;said the resolution, which was adopted with 483 votes in favour, 9 against and 42 abstentions, was "doomed to fail".
Politicians in the&nbsp;European&nbsp;parliament "do not take the national economy and people's livelihood as their own responsibility but instead use the&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;issue as a publicity stunt under the guise of 'human rights', 'democracy' and 'freedom'", the Foreign Ministry's commissioner office said in a statement.
"The political drama of a few foreign politicians will not shake the firm determination ... to govern&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;according to the law and punish crimes," it said, adding that the Parliament was "covering up and beautifying criminals".
Government officials in Beijing and&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;say that the law only targets a small number of "troublemakers" who threaten national security and that the rights and freedoms of ordinary&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;people are protected.
The&nbsp;European&nbsp;Parliament said in the resolution that "fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and the judiciary's independence have alarmingly deteriorated in&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong" since the implementation of the National Security Law.
Lai, who is in prison, is facing four charges under the security law and a colonial era sedition law. He has said he would plead not guilty at his trial, scheduled to begin in September.
Lai's son Sebastien said the&nbsp;European&nbsp;Parliament's&nbsp;resolution sent a "powerful message to&nbsp;Hong&nbsp;Kong&nbsp;that the targeting and imprisonment of my father and other prominent pro-democracy figures, in an attempt to silence them, is not going unnoticed by the international community".
(Reporting by Farah Master; Additional reporting by Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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China calls European Parliament's Hong Kong resolutions 'publicity stunt'