Beijing has called for vigilance against any attempts to jeopardise Hong Kong’s coming Legislative Council election, warning that local law enforcement agencies will not “sit back and do nothing” in the face of such efforts.

The central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and its national security arm in the city vowed to crack down on any disruptions to the election in separate warnings on Friday, coinciding with the start of the two-week nomination period for the December 7 race.

The strongly worded commentary under the pen name “Gang Ao Ping” shared by the office urged the public to remain vigilant against any attempts by anti-China forces to disrupt the city’s election, even though the implementation of the national security law in 2020 and Beijing’s “patriots-only” electoral overhaul the following year had curbed such activities and maintained order.

“The recent outlandish theories, such as the fabricated claims of ‘Beijing is interfering in the election’, the circulation of a so-called ‘blessing list’, the smears against the performance of seventh-term lawmakers and vows to boycott the race, are similar to previous tactics,” it said.

“Their fundamental goal is to deny the new electoral system, challenge Beijing’s comprehensive jurisdiction [over Hong Kong] and attack the governing authority of the local government in a bid to destroy the city’s stability and drag it into political chaos again.”

The commentary stressed that the city’s law enforcement and judiciary agencies would not “sit back and do nothing”.

“Any speeches and actions by any forces to interfere in or destroy will not escape legal investigation and punishment,” it warned.