The Chinese national flags and flags of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region flutter in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

 HONG KONG - Improving the electoral system in Hong Kong is a critical and urgent task to provide institutional safeguards for "patriots governing Hong Kong," the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said Friday.

The remarks came after the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislature, started to deliberate a draft decision on improving Hong Kong’s electoral system at its opening meeting of its annual session this year on Friday.

It is universally recognized in any country that both central and local jurisdiction must be in the hands of patriots so that national sovereignty, security and development interests will not be threatened, said a spokesperson for the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong

It is universally recognized in any country that both central and local jurisdiction must be in the hands of patriots so that national sovereignty, security and development interests will not be threatened, a spokesperson for the liaison office said in a statement.

Only true patriots will cherish Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, comprehensively and accurately understand the "one country, two systems" policy and uphold its bottom line, and ensure that its implementation will not be distorted, the spokesperson said.

In recent years, some anti-China disruptors and local radical separatists, backed and instigated by anti-China forces of western countries including the United States, entered the governing structure of the HKSAR through electoral loopholes, spreading ideas of so-called "Hong Kong independence," resisting the jurisdiction of the central authorities, and obstructing the administration of HKSAR government, and even colluded with external forces to try to seize the jurisdiction through manipulating elections, the spokesperson said.

Such acts and activities severely damaged Hong Kong's constitutional order and the rule of law, challenged the Constitution, the HKSAR Basic Law and the National Security Law in the HKSAR, jeopardized national sovereignty, security and development interests, undermined Hong Kong's social stability, and harmed the well-being of Hong Kong residents, the spokesperson said, stressing that the obvious loopholes and deficiencies must be addressed with resolute measures.

The spokesman said the draft decision has received wide support from Hong Kong society, as they agreed that it is a key institutional arrangement to ensure that Hong Kong is governed only by patriots.

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The Hong Kong community has reached a consensus that the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong” is the essence of the “one country, two systems” and the minimum requirement for Hong Kong to be administered by Hong Kong people. 

Noting it is the second year in a row that the NPC, the highest organ of state power, decided to deliberate on important issues related to Hong Kong, the spokesperson said it fully demonstrates the central government's firm resolve to ensure the steady and sustainable practice of "one country, two systems".

The spokesperson said improving the electoral system to ensure “patriots governing Hong Kong” will benefit the city in the long term.

With Xinhua inputs