Q: According to reports, foreign ministers of the G7 countries issued joint statements respectively on the election for the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of the HKSAR. What is China’s comment?

A: China firmly rejects and strongly condemns certain Western countries’ collusion, irresponsible remarks on the seventh-term LegCo election and democracy and the rule of law in HKSAR, and gross interference in China’s internal affairs.

Improving Hong Kong’s electoral system is a necessary step to ensure the full and faithful implementation of the policy of One Country, Two Systems, the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, and the development of democracy in Hong Kong on the right track. The seventh-term LegCo election in HKSAR just concluded is a successful practice to implement the new electoral system, and an important leap of a democratic system with Hong Kong’s characteristics and compatible with the SAR’s realities. The election process was fair, just, open, secure and clean, where voters’ democratic rights were fully respected and protected.

I want to stress that under the British colonial rule, there was no democracy in Hong Kong at all, and residents there never enjoyed real democracy, human rights and freedom. But no “democracies” expressed concern then. When the forms of democracy are developing with the quality improving in Hong Kong, certain Western countries shamelessly expressed so-called concern about a democratic election in an administrative region of China, and condescendingly launched attacks on and made accusations about Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law. This fully reveals the countries’hypocrisy, as well as their vile scheme to destabilize Hong Kong and contain China’s development.

Certain Western countries should face up to the fact that it has been 24 years since Hong Kong returned to the motherland. They should abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations, stop all forms of meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs and interference in other internal affairs of China. Any attempt to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability is doomed to fail.