Beijing congratulates Sam Hou-fai on his election victory

On Sunday, Beijing officials in charge of Macau affairs congratulated former special administrative region chief judge Sam Hou-fai on winning the race for chief executive.

Sam received 394 out of 400 votes from the electoral committee, with four blank votes and two members absent.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the result shows that Macau society largely recognizes Sam’s character, vision, skills and style.

“The electoral process and outcome … are significant to the full implementation of the ‘Patriots Governing Macau’ principle and to further advance the successful implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle with Macau characteristics,” the office said in a statement Opinion.

Beijing’s liaison office in Macau, meanwhile, noted that this is the first CE poll since the change in electoral laws in Macau.

It described the election as open, fair, impartial, lawful, smooth and orderly.

Hong Kong Prime Minister John Lee also congratulated Sam on his victory.

He described the two SARs as core cities in the Greater Bay Area that serve as engines for regional development.

“I am confident of working closely with Mr. Sam in the future to achieve complementarity and mutual benefits for Hong Kong and (Macau) and make full use of the cities’ strengths to meet the country’s needs,” Lee said in a statement.