Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam(left) and Chief Executive-elect John Lee pose at a news conference, in Hong Kong, China, May 9, 2022. Photo:cnsphoto

The day after John Lee Ka-chiu won the Hong Kong chief executive (CE) election on Sunday with the highest votes, he met with incumbent CE Carrie Lam, President of the Legislative Council Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen  and Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Andrew Cheung Kui-nung before paying a visit to the four central government offices in Hong Kong on Monday afternoon. 

Officials from the central government's offices believed that the new CE and the new Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government will lead the city to unveil a new chapter for Hong Kong. Compared with such collective will for good governance under the principle of "only patriots administer Hong Kong," some Western voices doubting the legitimacy of the election became trivial, experts said. 

As it's less than two months before the sixth-term CE of the HKSAR government assumes the position, a smooth transition is highly expected, as a political system with the implementation of "only patriots governing Hong Kong" has been fully established. 

Meanwhile, some Western forces continued criticizing the election by calling it a case of "violating democratic principles," which Chinese authorities and officials pointed out were irresponsible remarks that only exposed their true intention of meddling in China's internal affairs. 

The latest election was the third and final of the first round of three elections following the improved electoral system of the HKSAR, which will enable Hong Kong to continue to thrive as an SAR under the principle of "one country, two systems" and will also lay a solid foundation for Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, Lam told reporters after meeting with the new CE-elect.

During their meeting, they talked about a number of tasks to be accomplished in the coming weeks of the transition such as the proposed government reorganization package, anti-epidemic work and activities celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR. 

To ensure a smooth transition, Lam pledged to render Lee every assistance that he needs to form a new government. 

Although Hong Kong organized a smooth and successful CE election on Sunday, some foreign officials turned a blind eye toward it, voicing concerns over the result and claiming that the process violated so-called democratic principles. 

In the eyes of Chinese officials and experts, such laments only exposed their hypocrisy and true intention of interfering in China's internal affairs and trying to destroy the HKSAR's stability and prosperity.  

Lee was elected with high number of votes, and this was a solemn choice of the Election Committee members that also reflected the collective will of Hong Kong residents, Luo Huining, director of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong, said during a meeting with Lee on Monday. 

The election was conducted in accordance with laws and regulations, which was fair and just with extensive participation by Hong Kong society, Luo said, noting that the general public once again felt the progression of the new electoral system, which demonstrates the bright future of the democratic path with Hong Kong characteristics.

In response to remarks made by EU officials questioning the election, the Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mission to the EU and the Chinese Foreign Ministry all refuted those claims, saying that the election is a successful practice of "only patriots administering Hong Kong," and this can't be defamed or smeared by any external forces. 

While the new electoral system has been implemented and the development of democracy has been optimized in Hong Kong, the EU couldn't wait and "jumped out" by pointing fingers at it and smearing the process, which fully exposes its true intention of interfering in China's internal affairs, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told at a routine press conference on Monday. 

Those politicians applauded fake democracy and the pan-democratic camp that allowed the rioting and violence to rage, but they are afraid of true democracy with the implementation of the principle of "only patriots administering Hong Kong," Zhao noted. 

"Such tactics of interference won't work in today's Hong Kong," he said. 

Those Western politicians won't acknowledge that the Western style of democracy has no future and they are reluctant to accept the fact that Hong Kong's democracy has to be advanced within the structure of the "one country, two systems" policy, and it has to be favorable for national security and the city's prosperity, Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"They have turned a blind eye to those factors because they are determined to fight this ideological war with China," he said. 

Besides the EU officials, the G7 foreign ministers on Monday also voiced misgivings about how Hong Kong's new leader was chosen. 

Unfortunately, the US and UK have a long-term policy of trying to destabilize and damage China, so they will continue to attempt to create problems in Hong Kong, John Ross, a senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"The G7, particularly the US and Britain, is attempting to destabilize China and damage its development. To do so, it supports separatists," he said, noting that this policy is more difficult in Hong Kong as most of the separatists do not dare to declare their positions openly as it would lose them support. 

Instead, they hide their real positions. But the real aim is the same — to try to promote separatism in order to damage China, Ross said. 

Zheng Yanxiong, who leads the office for safeguarding national security of the central government in Hong Kong,  congratulated Lee during a meeting on Monday afternoon. Zheng said three elections under the new electoral system were all successful, bringing a new environment for local governance. 

Liu Guangyuan, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, expected to work with the new HKSAR government to firmly safeguard the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, fighting resolutely any external forces of interference. 

After the meeting with Andrew Leung, Lee told reporters that he emphasized the judiciary's independence, and he will absolutely support and cooperate with judiciary institutions. 

Unlike some countries that relentlessly smear the rule of law in Hong Kong and ignore the reality in Hong Kong, such an emphasis on the judiciary's independence delivers a heavy blow in fighting back against slander and smears, Louis Chen, an Election Committee member, told the Global Times on Monday.