On the 10th, the Hong Kong SAR government strongly refuted the statement issued by the foreign ministers of the group of seven and the EU high representative for foreign and security policy on the election of the sixth chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR. A spokesman for the SAR government said that we strongly oppose the unwarranted criticism and false comments made in the statement on the chief executive election. Their blatant interference in Hong Kong affairs, which is purely China's internal affairs, is a clear violation of the basic norms of international relations. A spokesman for the SAR government pointed out that the method for selecting the chief executive is stipulated in Annex I to the basic law. After the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended Annex I to the basic law to improve the electoral system, all relevant election laws have been passed by the Legislative Council. The elections held under the improved electoral system, including the election of the sixth chief executive of the HKSAR on May 8, have been conducted in an open, fair and honest manner in strict accordance with the requirements of the law. A spokesman for the SAR government said that any allegation that improving the electoral system and weakening the democratic element of Hong Kong's governance were wrong. On the contrary, improving the electoral system has expanded the representativeness of the voter base in the chief executive election. The election committee has been expanded from 1200 members in four sectors to 1500 members in five sectors. The new subsector members eligible to elect the chief executive are Hong Kong members from grass-roots organizations, regional organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises and national organizations. With the improvement of the electoral system, the representativeness of the Legislative Council has also been improved. Its members are now directly elected by the EC, functional constituencies and geographical constituencies, representing the interests of all sectors of society in a more fair and balanced manner. A spokesman for the SAR government pointed out that the purpose of establishing a legislative candidate qualification examination committee is to ensure that candidates in the election committee, the Legislative Council and the chief executive election meet the requirements of Article 104 of the basic law, support the basic law and be loyal to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the people's Republic of China. Such constitutional requirements are also quite common in other jurisdictions for those aspiring to public office. A spokesman for the SAR government said that we firmly believe that improving the electoral system, implementing the "Patriot governing Hong Kong" and protecting the overall interests of society are conducive to the stable development of democracy in Hong Kong. (Xinhua News Agency)