The first and deputy first ministers' office breached transparency laws in refusing for nearly two years to release records of a controversial meeting with a Chinese diplomat, a watchdog has found.
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O'Neill faced questions in 2020 over whether they had challenged China imposing draconian security laws on Hong Kong.
It followed a report by Belfast's Chinese Consulate which claimed the Stormont leaders had privately endorsed the divisive legislation, which has led to mass arrests in a brutal crackdown on human rights.
Read more: Stormont releases record of controversial Chinese consul meeting after two-year transparency battle
The report claimed the then first and deputy first ministers had said in a video call with Belfast's Chinese consul general that they "understand and respect" the security law.
Their joint office did not initially deny the claim. Following criticism Mrs Foster and Ms O'Neill later distanced themselves from the consulate's account.
But the department at the time refused to release minutes of the meeting under Freedom of Information laws - arguing it would damage international relations.
The Executive Office eventually released the relevant section of the minutes to Belfast Live in May this year following a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office.
The notes did not record any opposition to the law, but said the ministers "stressed their desire for the situation to be resolved for all concerned and to enable links with (Hong Kong) to continue".
In its report, the ICO said the Executive Office breached FOI legislation in disclosing information "outside the statutory time for compliance".
It said the department did not respond to confirm if it held relevant information within a required 20 working days, instead taking nearly two months.
The partial release of the minutes in May - almost two years after the initial FOI request - was "also well outside the statutory time for compliance".
The ICO noted "detailed grounds for appeal" were outlined in an internal review request in October 2020 but the Executive Office still declined to disclose information, arguing an exemption applied under FOI laws.
The watchdog said that had "had the Executive Office given greater consideration to these arguments, it ought to have reached the decision that its reliance on the exemption.. could not be sustained".
It added: "Had this been the case then the Executive Office might have disclosed the requested information in response to the original request, ie. in 2020, rather than in 2022 and only after the commissioner's intervention."
The Executive Office has been approached for comment.
When the consulate report first emerged in 2020, Ms O'Neill tweeted: "I made it very clear that I supported the 'One Country, Two Systems' international agreement," the deal under which the UK handed over the territory to China in 1997.
Mrs Foster said her comments had been misrepresented and that her position on Hong Kong is the same as the UK government's.
The Executive Office later said the consulate's account did not reflect the ministers' comments. The report on the consulate's website was subsequently changed to remove the "understand and respect" claim.
Scores of pro-democracy activists and protesters in Hong Kong have been arrested under the national security law since it was imposed by China in 2020.
China has also been internationally condemned for the internment of an estimated one million Uyghurs in northwest China in so-called 're-education' camps.
For years Stormont and other Northern Ireland institutions have worked to develop links with China, including the Executive setting up a trade bureau in Beijing in 2014.
UK relations with China have become a key battleground of the Conservative leadership contest, with both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak arguing they have taken a tougher stance against the superpower.
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