There were no discussions with the Central Government about specific methods for electing the Chief Executive or for forming the Legislative Council beyond 2007.

This was the message from Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam after attending today's Legislative Council Constitutional Affairs Panel meeting.

On patriotism, Mr Lam said the Central Government expects the main body of Hong Kong people responsible for running our affairs will be those who love the country and our city.

"We do believe that the vast majority of Hong Kong people are patriotic. They do identify with the implementation of the Basic Law and the community as a whole does support [the issue] that we need to protect national security," Mr Lam said.

He said the Government holds a clear view that Hong Kong people do identify with the overall development of the country, takes a positive view of how well it is doing internationally, welcomes the reunification and supports the implementation of the One Country, Two Systems formula.

Central Gov't serious on constitutional development discussion

Mr Lam reiterated that at this stage, their discussions are purely about principles and legislative process, adding that the Central Government is very serious about discussion on constitutional development.

"They do want to enable Hong Kong to gain a proper understanding of the principles and legislative process backing up constitutional development in the Basic Law," he said, adding that these discussions are clearly constructive, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of the Basic Law regarding the constitutional development process.

Mr Lam said the Government deals with the question of constitutional development and national security legislation separately.

"As the Government, at this stage, we are not ready to resubmit draft legislation on Basic Law Article 23. And as and when we do so, we will do our very best to explain to the community the need for the legislation, and we will only move ahead and with support of both the Legislative Council and the community."