Obstruction of legislature must stop

It is "natural and dutiful" for two central government bodies on Hong Kong affairs to speak out against opposition lawmakers' attempts to hijack the city's legislature and paralyze its law-based governance, the Commissioner's Office said on Thursday.

Their "insightful and timely" comments represent the people's will, said a spokesperson of the Commissioner's Office of the Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in a statement on its website.

The office also held that the comments will help protect Hong Kong people's fundamental interests, and safeguard the city's prosperity and stability.

The show of support came after the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR were accused by some foreign politicians and media outlets of "interfering in Hong Kong's internal affairs."

The two central government agencies on Monday condemned some opposition lawmakers, including Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, for failing to perform their duties in public office by adversely affecting the legislature's operations for over half a year.

Because of the lawmakers' obstructionist tactics, the Legislative Council's House Committee has failed to elect a chairperson after 14 meetings in the past six months. The election proceedings will be continued in a special meeting today.

In a statement by the office, the spokesperson said that it was "only right and proper" for the two central government bodies to state their position on the matter.

The Commissioner's Office spokesperson noted that since its return to China, Hong Kong has been reincorporated into the national governance system, and the central government has overall jurisdiction over the SAR.

The central government has the right to supervise the high degree of autonomy in the HKSAR, so as to ensure full and accurate implementation of the SAR mechanism established in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, the statement said.

Yet some foreign politicians and media outlets have distorted the truth, openly endorsed the opposition politicians, and even smeared the central government bodies. "It is they who are blatantly meddling with Hong Kong affairs and undermining 'one country, two systems','' the spokesperson said. The office said they should be ashamed of their conduct and immediately halt such intervention.

Meanwhile, the office also hit out at the opposition lawmakers' conduct. There is solid evidence that they have unscrupulously obstructed the work of LegCo and disrupted the normal function of Hong Kong's political system and governance, the office said.

The LegCo impasse has left 14 bills on hold, and 89 subsidiary regulations yet to be reviewed have expired.

"It has revealed their tactic of 'objecting for the sake of objecting' and the 'burn with us' mentality, and laid bare their destructive instead of constructive nature," the office noted, adding these politicians have posed a grave threat to people's well-being and the city's prosperity and stability.