HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government firmly opposed on Monday the joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States on the postponement of the Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.

In a statement released on Monday evening, an HKSAR government spokesman said the five foreign ministers deliberately misrepresented and “told falsehoods marked by brazen contempt for facts” about the Legislative Council General Election (LCGE) postponement, the disqualification of LegCo election nominees, and the enactment of the National Security Law.

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These official comments were blatant interference in Hong Kong matters which are internal affairs of the People's Republic of China, the spokesman said.

Foreign governments should stop their scaremongering and interfering in any form in the internal affairs of the HKSAR, he added.

The spokesman pointed out that the HKSAR government had repeatedly stressed that the LCGE postponement was entirely based on public health grounds amid an alarming surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.

These official comments were blatant interference in Hong Kong matters which are internal affairs of the People's Republic of China, the spokesman said

He said postponing the election for one year was not “disproportionate” since the current wave of infections would likely last for at least several weeks or longer and there may also be a winter surge later in the year.

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With the most stringent social distancing measures put in place, no meaningful election activities could be conducted, the spokesman said. 

He added that the strict boundary control measures made it virtually impossible for voters from the mainland and overseas to return to cast their vote. 

Legal, practical and time constraints also meant that it was not feasible to introduce measures such as extra polling days, postal voting or e-voting, the spokesman said.

He noted that many countries also postponed their elections due to the pandemic, including the UK, which postponed local council and the metro-mayoral elections for a year from May 7, 2020 to May 6, 2021.

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It is utterly regretful that the five foreign ministers in their joint statement have criticized the decision made by the HKSAR government for safeguarding public health and wellbeing of the people, when ironically their own governments were making similar decisions to postpone scheduled elections on similar grounds, the spokesman said.

This is yet another case of these governments adopting double standards and displaying hypocrisy, he added.

The spokesman also reiterated HKSAR government’s support for the Returning Officers’ decision to disqualify nominees for the LegCo election who advocated Hong Kong independence,solicited  intervention by foreign governments, or who could not genuinely uphold the Basic Law.

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He also said that the inappropriate comments by the five foreign ministers on the National Security Law smack of political manipulation and double standards. 

It is a gross interference in China's internal affairs and a grave violation of basic norms governing international relations, the spokesman added.