Foreign organisations should not interfere in the internal affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Government statement was issued today in response to media queries about a report on the city by foreign organisation Hong Kong Watch.

The statement said: "Since the return to the motherland, the HKSAR has been exercising a high degree of autonomy and 'Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong' in strict accordance with the Basic Law."

It added "one country, two systems" has been successfully implemented and is widely recognised by the international community.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam also dismissed the report, saying: "To attack the rule of law in Hong Kong and to allege that China, and (these are the words) they use, that China continues to 'erode Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms, thereby breaching an international treaty', is totally unfounded. We have seen no evidence of that.

"Quite on the contrary, the Central People's Government has been fully backing Hong Kong and supporting Hong Kong in our economic and social development."

Mrs Lam said she will do her utmost to safeguard Hong Kong's core values like the rule of law and judicial autonomy.