Hong Kong election 'referendum' illegal: State Council

Central authorities on Friday rebuffed proposals for a "referendum" into how the Hong Kong chief executive is elected, saying any form of so-called "referendum" in Hong Kong would not have constitutional grounds, thus being illegal and invalid.

Read more: HK govt stresses 'civil referendum' has no legal effect

A group of people in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) launched a campaign for the so called "referendum" earlier on Friday.

However, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council issued a statement saying the election method they proposed is not in line with the universal suffrage method determined by the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

The so-called "civil referendum" organized by some groups has no legal effect as it did not exist in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( HKSAR) and its domestic legislation, an SAR government spokesman said Friday in response to media enquiries. >>>