BEIJING - Sunday's selection of John Lee as Hong Kong's next chief executive underscores the merits of achieving the principle of "patriots governing" the special administrative region, the Chinese Communist-led government said.

The Global Times, a tabloid of the ruling Communist Party, said people in Hong Kong "can successfully choose an ideal person who will resolutely carry out the reforms to reshape the local governance in order to fix some deep-rooted problems" in the region.

The latest election has "great significance" for the former British colony, "especially after the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong and the electoral reform," it said.

In late June 2020, China enforced a controversial national security law for Hong Kong to crack down on what it regards as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

Lee served as the city's secretary for security before being elevated to chief secretary for administration, the No. 2 post in the territory, in June 2021.

Under China's "one country, two systems" policy, Hong Kong was promised it would enjoy the rights and freedoms of a semiautonomous region for 50 years following its return to the mainland in 1997.

Beijing, however, has recently been wielding a heavier hand with Hong Kong after large-scale protests sparked by a since-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland morphed into a pro-democracy movement in 2019.