HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's government said comments recently made by two central government bodies on the Legislative Council impasse were legitimate.

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The government was responding to media queries on remarks made by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and Liaison Office of the Central People's Government (LOCPG) in the HKSAR on the operation of the LegCo's House Committee, which has failed to elect its chairman after 15 meetings over the past six months. 

Such moves (expressing concerns and making comments by the two central government bodies) do not constitute any interference to the affairs which the HKSAR administers on its own in accordance with the Basic Law

HKSAR govt

In a statement issued on Saturday evening, a spokesman for the city's government said the HKSAR is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China. 

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is 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 spokesman said.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR (LOCPG) is an office set up in the HKSAR by the Central People's 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, the spokesman iterated.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR was established in the HKSAR in accordance with Article 13 of the Basic Law, while the Chinese People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison was stationed in the HKSAR by the Central People's Government in accordance with Article 14 of the Basic Law.

The House Committee of the Legislative Council has failed to elect its chairman after 15 meetings over the past six months. The concerns expressed and comments made by the two central government bodies on the matter were "legitimate from the perspectives of the Constitution, governance and operation, and are in full compliance with the constitutional order under 'one country, two systems'," the spokesman said.

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Such moves do not constitute any interference to the affairs which the HKSAR administers on its own in accordance with the Basic Law, the spokesman said in the statement.

"As with offices set up in the HKSAR by departments of the Central Government, or by provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the CPG, the LOCPG and its personnel shall abide by the laws of the HKSAR in accordance with Article 22(3) of the Basic Law," according to the statement.