No distortion or slander can stop Hong Kong's democratic progress: Chinese spokesperson

BEIJING, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- A government spokesperson on Tuesday said China deplores and strongly opposes the Five Eyes countries' groundless attack on Hong Kong's recent Legislative Council (LegCo) election.

Foreign ministers of the Five Eyes countries issued a joint statement, baselessly targeting the LegCo election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and wantonly slandering the region's national security law and its new electoral system, said a spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

The statement was full of lies and slanders, the spokesperson said.

The enforcement of the national security law in Hong Kong has restored rule-based order, improved the region's business environment, restored peace and put the economy back on track, the spokesperson said.

The new electoral system, in accordance with the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong," has diversified forms of democracy and expanded the political participation of Hong Kong residents, the spokesperson noted.

The LegCo election saw broad representation, political inclusiveness, balanced participation and fair competition, and has demonstrated the improvements and advancements of Hong Kong's democratic system, the spokesperson said.

It has been proven numerous times that countries like the United States and the United Kingdom do not truly care about Hong Kong's democracy and freedom, the spokesperson said.

Their true agenda is helping their political surrogates seize power so that they can stir up trouble and disorder in Hong Kong, and they want to use Hong Kong to launch secession, infiltration, subversion and sabotage activities on the Chinese mainland, said the spokesperson.