BEIJING: A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday urged certain Western countries to immediately cease interfering in China’s internal affairs after the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers and a European Union official expressed grave concerns over the chief executive election in Hong Kong. John Lee, 64, former chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, on Sunday won the first chief executive election since the improvement of the region’s electoral system in 2021. “Certain Western countries and institutions are conspiring with each other to slander the election and grossly interfere in China’s internal affairs. China expresses firm opposition to this and strongly condemns it,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing. Some countries have ignored the fact that Hong Kong’s democracy has improved and that mainstream public opinion seeks unity and prosperity, Zhao said. “They sound like ‘preachers of democracy’ when they point fingers at Hong Kong’s democratic elections, its high degree of autonomy, and its human rights and freedoms, which only exposes their double standards and their attempt to bring chaos to Hong Kong and contain China,” he said. “Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong. What kind of electoral system Hong Kong implements and what kind of democratic development path it explores are issues that fall entirely under the scope of China’s internal affairs, and no external forces have the right to interfere,” Zhao said. He said the Chinese government is resolved to fully and faithfully implement the “one country, two systems” principle and develop high-quality democracy suited to Hong Kong’s reality, and any attempt from external forces to undermine this will be in vain. He expressed confidence that Hong Kong will usher in a new era of good governance that leads to prosperity. Xinhua