Essence of democracy

In his speech on Dec 6, Xia Baolong noted that the blind pursuit of Western-style democracy has done nothing to help democracy develop in Hong Kong.

It only caused crises of social polarization, vicious competition, economic imbalance and ineffective governance, which led to social turbulence such as the unrest in 2019 over an extradition bill that was later withdrawn, he added.

Gary Wong, a board member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said people should appreciate that democracy can thrive in different countries in its many shapes and forms.

"The essence of democracy is about respecting diversity. It is not a cookie-cutter," he said.

"The Chinese mainland is well known for putting the concept of 'whole process democracy' into real practice. Our country has successfully converted the vision and values of democracy into a scientific, institutionalized system."

Henry Ho, founder and chairman of the One Country Two Systems Youth Forum, said before the poll, "With a large number of young and fresh faces participating in the LegCo election, we look forward to healthy competition among candidates and more debates on policy preference, good governance and solutions for the city's deep-seated problems."

As a Basic Law scholar, Ho was pleased to see that the new electoral system reflects the original design of Hong Kong's political structure, which is executive-led, with checks and balances between the executive and the legislature, and balanced participation by all parties.

"These important guiding principles in drafting the Basic Law are upheld in the new system," he said.

Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, Hong Kong's secretary for justice, said a new democratic electoral system suited to Hong Kong's actual situation and with Hong Kong characteristics was synthesized in order to fully implement "patriots administering Hong Kong" and safeguard the overall interests of society and the constitutional order as set out in the Constitution and the Basic Law.

"All candidates are confirmed in compliance with the legal requirements and conditions for upholding the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR and bearing allegiance to the HKSAR of the People's Republic of China. I am confident that all the elected candidates will sincerely serve Hong Kong and pursue the well-being of our citizens," she said.

"This is the purpose of election and also the true meaning of democracy."