Revision of HK law to prevent further chaos

The recent attempts by destabilizing forces and radical localists to get their hands on administrative power in Hong Kong have exposed loopholes and deficiencies in the special administrative region's electoral system that need to be remedied.

In particular, the so-called primaries they staged for the Legislative Council election－prior to its postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic－showed the methods by which the chief executive is selected and the Legislative Council is formed need to be improved.

On Thursday, the National People's Congress gave the green light to the basic principles and core elements for improving the SAR's electoral system set out in the draft document submitted for deliberation during its annual session, paving the way for the overdue implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong".

The hue and cry raised by destabilizing localists and their foreign patrons since the country's top legislature started deliberating on the draft last week speaks volumes about the pertinence of the impending changes, which will take effect once the SAR's local laws are amended in line with the NPC Standing Committee's amendments to Annex I and Annex II of Hong Kong's Basic Law.

Closing the loopholes and remedying the deficiencies in Hong Kong's electoral system are conducive to maintaining the long-term prosperity and stability of the SAR and thus the well-being of Hong Kong residents. Only those who have been speculating on benefiting from those shortcomings for other ends will not support the changes.

Patriots administering Hong Kong is an essential requirement for the successful practice of "one country, two systems", and the modifications to the electoral system will prevent all kinds of anti-China elements from infiltrating the SAR's administrative, legislative and judicial departments as they had been doing. These infiltrators have turned public organs into stages for their ugly anti-government shows, and transformed public agencies serving communities into political tools to instigate unrest.

Those anti-China forces slinging mud on the move to refine Hong Kong's administrative system are simply pretending to be blind to the damage that has been done to Hong Kong's image and economy by those trying to undermine the SAR authorities. The shameless attacks on these necessary reforms are another example of their tricks of upholding "democracy" while in effect allowing only those they approve of to come under that banner.

Hong Kong residents should know from what has happened over the past one and a half years, including the prevention and control response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which parties truly care for their well-being, and which parties are trying to grab and ruin "Asia's World City".