A senior Chinese government official on Friday called improving the electoral system of the country's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) an imperative move to plug loopholes in the HKSAR's legal system and a fundamental measure to safeguard political stability in the region.

Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks while elaborating the great and far-reaching significance of improving the electoral system of the HKSAR.

The basic components of the HKSAR's current methods for the selection of the Chief Executive and for the formation of the Legislative Council were established more than 30 years ago when the HKSAR Basic Law was drawn up, Zhang noted.

The rioting and turbulence that occurred in Hong Kong in recent years, reveals that the HKSAR's existing electoral system has clear loopholes and deficiencies that were used by anti-China, destabilizing elements to enter the bodies of power and other parts of the administrative structure of the HKSAR, and by external forces to meddle with and infiltrate into Hong Kong affairs and conduct acts endangering China's national security, Zhang said.

He stressed that it is a must to mend, and measures must be taken to prevent and defuse risks at the institutional level.

The riots in recent years testify to the truth that the main problem facing Hong Kong is a political one, Zhang said.

It is not a question about whether the electoral system should be democratic, or whether the pace of democracy should be faster or slower, as some people have suggested, but a struggle between seizing power and counter-seizure of power, subversion and counter-subversion and infiltration and counter-infiltration, he stressed.

"When this is concerned, there is no room for us to concede," he said.

Improving the electoral system is an appropriate choice made based on the real conditions in the HKSAR, which is conducive to the progressive and stable development of democracy in the region, Zhang said.

Hong Kong compatriots, who enjoyed no democracy over the 150-odd years under British colonial rule, only gained control of their own destiny after Hong Kong returned to the motherland in 1997, he noted, adding that the young democracy practice in Hong Kong needs to be improved over time.

Zhang called improving the electoral system the only way to improve the governance efficacy of the HKSAR, which is conducive to economic development and livelihood improvement.

Flaws and uncertainties with the existing electoral system are a catalyst for a highly politicized Hong Kong society, only opening a gate for anti-China, destabilizing elements to wantonly manipulate political agenda.

With an improved electoral system, Hong Kong will be more capable of rising above the political mire, delivering good governance and creating greater benefits for the general public in the region, Zhang said.

Zhang said improving the electoral system provides an institutional guarantee for implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," which is conducive to the sound and sustained implementation of the "one country, two systems" in the HKSAR.

"Patriots administering Hong Kong" is nothing new, he noted, stressing that across the world, no country allows unpatriotic people in state or local governance.

Improving the electoral system is a move to ensure that the power and jurisdiction over the HKSAR stay firm in the hands of patriots, Zhang said.

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