Lawmakers back implementation of 'patriots governing HK'

A group of Hong Kong lawmakers said on Monday they fully endorse and support the "patriots governing Hong Kong" principle as outlined by the head of the central government's top body overseeing Hong Kong affairs.

The 28 lawmakers made the remarks at a news conference in Hong Kong, after Xia Baolong, a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, made a speech at a symposium in Beijing.

At the symposium, Xia said that the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong" must always be upheld to ensure the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems".

Agreeing with Xia, Martin Liao Cheung-kong, a barrister and the convener of the pro-establishment lawmakers in the Legislative Council, said the lawmakers fully support an immediate improvement of Hong Kong's electoral system in accordance with the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong".

This will be the only way for Hong Kong to get rid of internal disturbances, to guarantee the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems", and to have more room for "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy", he said.

Liao said the prolonged social unrest in 2019 is a lesson learned for Hong Kong, when those who were not patriots were allowed to hold positions in the legislature and other authorities and to fight against the establishment.

According to a joint statement by the lawmakers, the unpatriotic, who refused to recognize the fundamental regime of the country, have been resisting the Chinese mainland and the central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong since the city's return to the motherland.

They have exploited rights conferred to them by law and put the practices of "one country, two systems" and "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" in unprecedented peril, according to the statement.