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Beijing\u2019s security agency in Hong Kong has summoned international journalists to inform them it will not tolerate \u201ctrouble-making\u201d, following critical coverage of the deadly apartment complex fire<\/a> that has left the territory reeling.<\/p>\n Senior reporters from several media outlets operating in the city were called to the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was set up by Beijing in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the meeting, which was attended by the New York Times and Agence France-Presse, an official accused journalists of tainting the government. The official did not give specific examples of coverage and did not take questions, according to AFP.<\/p>\n An OSNS statement posted online shortly after the meeting accused some foreign media of having \u201cdisregarded facts, spread false information, distorted and smeared the government\u2019s disaster relief and aftermath work\u201d.<\/p>\n Hong Kong has been on edge since the fire on 26 November in an apartment complex<\/a>, which left at least 159 people dead. The blaze at the eight-tower Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong is the city\u2019s worst disaster in 75 years, and the world\u2019s most fatal residential building fire since 1980.<\/p>\n Home to nearly 5,000 people, the sprawling block of apartments was under extensive renovations that have since been found to contain substandard, flammable materials<\/a>, leading to public outcry.<\/p>\n The online OSNS statement urged journalists to \u201cnot cross the legal red line\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe office will not tolerate the actions of all anti-China and trouble-making elements in Hong Kong<\/a>,\u201d adding: \u201cDon\u2019t say we didn\u2019t warn you.\u201d<\/p>\n Semi-autonomous Hong Kong was returned from the UK to China<\/a> in 1997 and operates under a \u201cone-country, two-systems\u201d framework. It has long prided itself on liberties not available on the mainland, such as a free press and the ability to demonstrate. However, those freedoms have been eroded since the wide-ranging national security law was passed in 2020, which gave Beijing sweeping powers to curtail dissent.<\/p>\n