The main goal of enhancing Hong Kong’s electoral system serves to ensure that the city is governed by patriots, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today.

She made the statement at a media session following her visit to a 2021 Election Committee Subsector Ordinary Elections polling station this morning.

Mrs Lam said: “The whole objective of improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is to ensure ‘patriots administering Hong Kong’. This is a very legitimate objective of any public election in any government.

“I doubt very much that another government or another country will allow the public elections of their local legislature to consist of people whose mission is to undermine the national interest or the national security.”

Whether it is in the form of the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee or the nomination system in the coming three elections, the whole purpose is to ensure that the election candidates could fulfil the legitimate requirement of “patriots administering Hong Kong” which has been enshrined in local legislation, she added.

“But we still welcome people from all walks of life, people have different opinions about the Government’s policies to go into the political system.

“As long as we all share the common objective that we will continue to succeed under ‘one country, two systems’, then we will not do anything to undermine national security.”