Recent remarks made by the Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government (LOCPG) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are legitimate.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government issued the statement today in response to media enquiries concerning remarks by the HKMAO and LOCPG on the operation of the Legislative Council House Committee.

It noted that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China and a local administrative region of the People's Republic of China, which enjoys a high degree of autonomy and comes directly under the Central People's Government (CPG).

The Hong Kong SAR Government pointed out that the LOCPG is one of the three organisations set up in the Hong Kong SAR by the Central Government, and is authorised by the CPG to have special responsibility to handle issues relating to Hong Kong.

It is entrusted with the authority and responsibility to represent the CPG to express views and exercise supervisory power on major issues such as those concerning the relationship between the CPG and the SAR, the accurate implementation of the Basic Law, the proper operation of the political system and the well-being of the community as a whole.

The statement said that the House Committee has failed to elect its Chairman after 15 meetings over the past six months. The concerns expressed and comments made by the HKMAO and LOCPG on the matter are legitimate from the perspectives of the Constitution, governance and operation, and are in full compliance with the constitutional order under "one country, two systems".

Such moves do not constitute any interference to the affairs which the Hong Kong SAR administers on its own in accordance with the Basic Law.

The LOCPG and its personnel shall abide by the Basic Law and laws of the Hong Kong SAR, it added.