HONG KONG, Sept. 4 -- In response to media inquiries on the remarks made by former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten, a spokesman for the Chief Executive's Office on Thursday responded as follows:

First, before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, all governors of Hong Kong were not elected by Hong Kong people.

Second, the Sino-British Joint Declaration does not provide for universal suffrage at all.

Third, Hong Kong's constitutional development under the Basic Law is an internal affair of our country and a matter for the Central Authorities and our people to decide.

In an article in the Financial Times, Patten urged Britain to speak out over Beijing's restrictive voting reforms, writing that London has "moral responsibilities for what happens in Hong Kong."