Lee, a former chief secretary and security minister, was elected unopposed with 1,416 votes out of 1,428 cast by the Election Committee on Sunday. Eight members voted against him, four cast blank votes and 33 members did not take part.

The poll was the first for a chief executive since the central government added a new sector of pro-Beijing loyalists to the committee already dominated by pro-establishment figures as part of its overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system last year to ensure only “patriots” held power. A vetting mechanism was also introduced to ensure candidates did not present a threat to national security.

The changes were needed, the government argued, to put an end to attempts by opposition lawmakers to paralyse the Legislative Council and help restore stability following the civil unrest of 2019.

The G7’s statement echoed the concerns over the election process raised by the 27 members of the EU on Sunday night.

“The European Union regrets this violation of democratic principles and political pluralism and sees this selection process as yet another step in the dismantling of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.

But the Chinese foreign ministry argued that the EU had no right to comment on Hong Kong affairs.

“The EU jumped out impatiently to comment on the election,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing. “This fully exposed how they meddled with China’s domestic affairs under the guise of democracy and freedom.

“They applauded the fake democracy of politicisation and ‘black violence’, but were worried about the true democracy, which fits Hong Kong’s actual situation and enforces patriots administering the city. All Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots, can see their double standards clearly.”

Borrell’s claims were also attacked by the Chinese mission to the EU, which claimed the bloc had “blatantly smeared Hong Kong’s election and meddled with Hong Kong issues and China’s domestic affairs”.

“The chief executive election was held in a lawful, fair and orderly manner,” it said. “Societal participation was broad and in-depth, and fully demonstrated [the principles of] democracy.”

China’s foreign ministry office in Hong Kong and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) also hit back at the G7 criticism on Monday night. A spokesman for the former said “any attempt to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability will be in vain”.

An HKMAO representative said a small number of Western countries including the US were eager to slander Sunday’s poll and the city’s new electoral system and attack the central government’s policies towards Hong Kong. This, he said, was just “self-exposing their ugliness” and could not stop Hong Kong’s pace towards greater prosperity.

The spokesman said politicians from those countries had ignored their own poor performance in democracy, freedom and human rights, and repeatedly used these issues to make wanton remarks about Hong Kong with the aim of disrupting the city and containing China. However, these noises could not shake the will of the Chinese government to fully and accurately implement one country, two systems, or interfere with the city developing a democratic system that conformed with its own needs, he said.

Lee also defended the new electoral system, saying the central government had to intervene because foreign forces had meddled in local affairs during the 2019 social unrest.

“The election law in Hong Kong was enacted because of what happened in the years of chaos … and also attempts to sabotage Hong Kong governance with a high degree of foreign intervention,” the former security tsar said.

“It is an improved system in which there is broad representation of interest, and also it is in accordance with the actual situation of Hong Kong.”

As part of the electoral overhaul, the number of directly elected seats in Legco was slashed from 35 to 20, and 40 seats given to the Election Committee to decide. Only one non-establishment lawmaker was returned in the December election, social welfare representative Tik Chi-yuen.

But Lee argued that debates in Legco since the changes had become “practical and rational”.

“That is the benefit that has been brought as a result of the new electoral system,” he said. “We should stand firm about the need for such an electoral system.”

Earlier on Sunday, the Chinese foreign ministry’s office in the city defended the vote as a “successful practice in developing democracy with Hong Kong characteristics”.

“Some EU politicians, harbouring the intention of using Hong Kong to contain China … vilified the new electoral system and ‘one country, two systems’,” it said. “These are their old tricks to wade into Hong Kong affairs under the guise of ‘democracy’, ‘human rights’ and ‘freedom’.”

The same day, Xinhua ran a commentary accusing Western media of applying “double standards” by taking issue with Lee’s background as a police officer.

While Xinhua did not name any media outlet, CNN had published an article titled “Hong Kong’s next leader is a hardline former police officer who took on the city’s protesters”.

The BBC also published an article which cited critics saying Lee’s rise to power was further evidence of how Hong Kong was turning into a “police state”.

But Xinhua argued that it was not uncommon for veteran members of the force to become leaders of municipal governments, pointing to New York Mayor Eric Adams, and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor from Florida.

Gerard Collomb, mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 and from 2018 to 2020, oversaw the French police as the minister of the interior in 2017 and 2018, Xinhua added.

Additional reporting by Danny Mok