File photo: VCG
Improving Hong Kong's electoral system and implementing the principle of patriots governing the city is a constitutional, legitimate, just and reasonable act, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.
Improving the city's electoral reform is a legitimate move that is in line with the Constitution of China, and improving the system and implementing the principle of patriots governing Hong Kong is a real-time necessity for pushing forward "one country, two systems," Wang told the press conference, noting that the move is also the execution of power and responsibility authorized by the top legislature.
Civil servants and people who running for public positions pledging loyalty to their own countries is a basic political ethical standard, and this is also the case with Hong Kong, he said. As Hong Kong is part of China as a Special Administrative Region, loving Hong Kong is in line with loving China, the Chinese Foreign Minister said.
In the colonial era, Hong Kong had no democracy. Twenty-four years since Hong Kong's return, no side cares more about the city's democratic development, stability and prosperity more than the Chinese central government, Wang noted. The city going from chaos to stability is completely in line with the interests of all parties, and the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong residents and foreign investors will be further protected, Wang said.
A detailed draft decision to overhaul the Hong Kong electoral system with the aim of fixing existing loopholes was unveiled on Friday at the opening of the annual session of the NPC, laying out the targets, major procedures and principles for the imminent reforms to effectively implement the political principle of only patriots governing Hong Kong.
On behalf of 70 countries, a representative of Belarus to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council expressed support for China's implementation of "one country, two systems" in the HKSAR and urged certain countries to stop interfering in China's internal affairs.
The Chinese Mission to the EU has also urged the bloc to discard their wrong stance on Hong Kong, stop saying and doing futile things and stop interfering in Hong Kong's and China's other domestic affairs. This comes after the EU told Beijing to tread carefully over Hong Kong's election reform.