HKSAR security chief vows to ensure elections smoothly held in Hong Kong

HONG KONG - Chris Tang, secretary for security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said on Thursday that the security bureau and all disciplined services will strive to ensure that the three upcoming major elections in Hong Kong will be conducted in a safe environment of social stability.

Tang noted in an article that the 2021 Hong Kong Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections scheduled for Sept 19 is the first key election held in accordance with Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Ordinance 2021, which is related to the effective administration of Hong Kong in the future.

The Legislative Council General Election and the Chief Executive Election are scheduled for December 2021 and March 2022 respectively.

Tang said that the security bureau will formulate a security plan to deal with possible security risks and ensure that all election-related activities can be carried out smoothly and orderly.

In recent years, the Legislative Council had been inefficient, chaotic and even plagued with violence, indicating that there were loopholes in Hong Kong's electoral system, Tang said, adding that this had allowed anti-China troublemakers to enter the political system of the HKSAR, seriously undermine Hong Kong's constitutional order, and even endanger national security.

In order to plug the loopholes and bring order to chaos, it is important and necessary to improve Hong Kong's electoral system to safeguard the constitutional order established by the Constitution and the HKSAR Basic Law, he said.

As a member of the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, Tang said that he and other committee members will work to make sure all candidates will be those who sincerely uphold the HKSAR Basic Law and bear allegiance to the HKSAR.

Anyone making a pretense will not be allowed to slip through and enter the HKSAR's administration system, he added.