China has accused the U.K. of "groundless slanders” after the British government said Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong wasn’t in compliance with a treaty that paved the way for the city’s return to Chinese control.

"The U.K. has no sovereignty, jurisdiction or right of ‘supervision’ over Hong Kong after the handover, and it has no so-called ‘obligations’ to Hong Kong citizens,” China said in a statement posted Sunday on the website of its London embassy. "No foreign country or organization has the right to take the Joint Declaration as an excuse to interfere in Hong Kong affairs, which are China’s internal affairs.”

The statement came after U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Saturday said China is in a "state of ongoing noncompliance” with the 1984 treaty that paved the way for Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control. His remarks have gone further than previous comments by the U.K., which had called the changes a breach in the declaration.