Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announces on July 31 the postponement of the Legislative Council election to September 5, 2021. Photo: cnsphoto

China deplores and rejects the joint statement on Hong Kong issued by the foreign ministers of the Five Eyes Alliance.

The statement is another example of the "Five Eyes" countries interfering in China's internal affairs and Hong Kong SAR's legislative council elections. China has lodged solemn representations with relevant countries, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at Monday's media briefing.

The Five Eyes Alliance includes  the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the New Zealand.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, and the election of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR is a local election in China, which is purely Hong Kong's internal affair. No foreign government, organization or individual has the right to interfere, nor is there any reason to interfere, Zhao noted.

In the face of the severe COVID-19 epidemic, the HKSAR government decided to postpone the election of the seventh Legislative Council. This is a justifiable move to protect the life and health of the Hong Kong people and a necessary move to ensure the safety, and fairness of the Legislative Council election

There is no lack of precedent in the world for postponing elections due to disasters such as the epidemic. The decision of the HKSAR government is in line with the common practice and is reasonable and lawful. "As far as I know, more than 60 countries and regions have postponed national or local elections due to the epidemic," said Zhao.

In March this year, the UK announced that due to the epidemic, local elections scheduled for May in England and other places would be postponed to May 2021.

This is the typical double standard of the "Five Eyes" countries to politicize the postponement of the Legislative Council election by the HKSAR government, Zhao noted.

At the recent session of the UN Human Rights Council, 70 countries supported China's enactment of the national security law for Hong Kong and condemned the use of Hong Kong-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs. This reflects the common voice and just position of the international community. The "Five Eyes" countries do not represent the international community, said Zhao.

The remarks come after the Five Eyes Alliance on Sunday slammed the postponement of the election of Hong Kong's Legislative Council .