HONG KONG – The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is entrusted with the authority and responsibility to exercise supervisory power on major issues in Hong Kong, according to the HKSAR government. 

The HKSAR is an inalienable part of China and a local administrative region that enjoys a high degree of autonomy and comes directly under the Central People's Government (CPG), a government spokesman said Sunday in response to media inquiries on recent remarks from the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the liaison office in the HKSAR on the operation of the House Committee of the Legislative Council (LegCo). 

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The liaison office is an office set up in the HKSAR by the central government, not "offices in the HKSAR set up by departments of the Central People's Government" as stated in Article 22(2) of the Basic Law, said the spokesman. 

The liaison office is authorized by the Central People's Government 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 spokesman added. 

The LegCo House Committee has failed to elect its chairman after 15 meetings over the past six months, said the spokesman. 

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The concerns expressed and comments made by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and liaison office on the matter are legitimate from the perspectives of the Constitution, governance and operation, and are in full compliance with the constitutional order under the "one country, two systems" principle, the spokesman said.