A symposium on “Improving the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ System, Implementing the Basic Principle of ‘Patriots Governing Hong Kong’” was held on February 22, in Beijing. Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) Director Xia Baolong (夏宝龙) gave a lengthy speech on the subject of “patriots governing Hong Kong.” The speech appears to justify election reform for Hong Kong, likely to be introduced at next month’s Two Sessions. The main messages of the speech were broken down as follows on the HKMAO website. Broadly these stated:

i) “Patriots governing Hong Kong” is at the core of “One Country, Two Systems”. Xia Baolong said, therefore, “patriots governing Hong Kong” must be adhered to in order to fully and accurately implement “One Country, Two Systems.” Stating that requiring elected officials to be patriotic is a norm accepted around the world and that this is not a “high standard” to set. Xia Baolong explained that Deng Xiaoping had said: “The standard of a patriot is respecting one’s own nation, earnestly and sincerely (诚心诚意) supporting the motherland in resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, and not harming the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong." Emphasising that as Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China “Patriots inevitably do their utmost to safeguard the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.”

ii) Xia Baolong also called for ensuring the Central Government’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and preventing “anti-China” chaos and the agents of international “anti-China forces” from entering the governance structure.

iii) He said it is important to "Respect the central leadership" and that since the authority to create a Special Administrative Region lies with the Central Government and Hong Kong’s electoral system is an important part of its political system, the Central Government should take the lead in improving this electoral system.

iv) Xia Baolong stated that Hong Kong’s Chief Executive is the leading and central position in its political system and that electoral reform should give much consideration to how to improve the relationship between the executive and the legislature.

v) Calling for a “sound system guarantee”, Xia Baolong stressed the need to improve the relevant systems and provide effective means to guarantee that members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and leaders of statutory bodies are all "true patriots".