I was born and raised in Hong Kong, graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and later studied in the United States. I have also taught at universities on the Chinese mainland and worked in impoverished rural areas on poverty alleviation. So I have firsthand experience of Hong Kong, the mainland and the West.

As the Legislative Council election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region kicked off on Sunday, I felt a deep conviction that we are entering a new era when Hong Kong residents can finally shake off Western manipulation. It is an opportunity we must support and cherish.

The recent devastating fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po district brought immense grief to Hong Kong, but it also rekindled a strong sense of solidarity and the realization that the mainland and Hong Kong have a shared future.

People from the mainland came to mourn and pay their respects to the victims of the disaster. This shows that people across the country are standing with Hong Kong. This spiritual unity rooted in our national culture makes it harder for foreign forces to divide us.

At the same time, the fire also exposed many loopholes of grassroots-level management. The next Legislative Council must confront these shortcomings in governance and make remedial changes. This is precisely why this election matters. The residents of Hong Kong must vote actively, so that the special administrative region can improve its governance under the principle of "one country, two systems".

Some residents of Hong Kong received British colonial education, which cut them off from China's rich ancient civilization and traditional values. They grew up believing that the Anglo-American civilization was superior and Chinese culture was something to look down upon.

I was fortunate to attend Pui Ying, a secondary school where many teachers had a strong sense of Chinese culture. From my early teens, I started buying and reading books on Chinese philosophy and history — from Confucianism to Taoism, from ancient dynasties to modern upheavals.

Only then did I realize that I was heir to a remarkable civilization. Reading about the foreign aggressions in modern history, including the Nanjing Massacre, left me shaken and angry, and I vowed to devote myself to rebuilding the Chinese nation. From that point on, I truly recognized myself as a Chinese person growing up in British-ruled Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is, after all, just a city, and if one identifies as a Hong Kong resident without the deeper identity as a Chinese, it feels hollow and rootless. I see myself as a Chinese from Hong Kong: rooted in China, building Hong Kong.

Before the 1997 handover, the United Kingdom sent Chris Patten to Hong Kong to build a network for continuing Anglo-American influence, including intelligence operations and political grooming designed to instill suspicion and antipathy toward China.

Later whistleblowers and leaked documents revealed the real picture. US agencies had hacked into Hong Kong and mainland networks, consular officials advised opposition figures such as Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, and foreign funds financed political campaigns. Michael Pillsbury, a former Pentagon adviser, admitted that Washington spent millions of dollars backing so-called "pro-democracy "movements in Hong Kong.

Money, intelligence services, media influence and online mobilization were used to turn Hong Kong into a "Western proxy". Under the banner of "fighting for democracy", young people were pushed into confrontation with the Hong Kong SAR government. All of this was aimed at creating chaos to hinder China's rise.

But is the democracy of the Western world really an ideal system? A 2014 Princeton University study, "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens", examined 20 years of US congressional voting and found that policy outcomes rarely reflected majority public opinion.

Instead, the elected representatives largely aligned with the wishes of powerful interest groups that funded and lobbied to shape legislation.

In such a system, the so-called democracy often expresses the will of the elite, not of the people. We saw this happen in Hong Kong, when violence and destruction were carried out in the name of democracy, with ample evidence that foreign money flowed to key figures to fuel that turmoil.

After new laws were passed in recent years, the subversive elements have been held to account and the foreign-funded political operations dismantled. The chaotic post-handover period is finally giving way to a new beginning. Hong Kong residents should take this opportunity to vote without intimidation and external manipulation to build a democracy grounded in morality and rational judgment.

Today, Hong Kong residents need representatives who are truly capable and responsible, not driven by personal gain. They need people who are honest and sincerely love both the motherland and Hong Kong and refuse to be anyone's proxy. Voters should exercise clear judgment, look beyond slogans, examine each candidate's record, and decide whether they are merely chasing fame and profit, or whether they are people of genuine character and conviction.

The author is a Hong Kong-born researcher.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.