In the letter shared on social media by Ip on Tuesday, the Executive Council convenor also stressed that forms of “so-called democracy” contrary to the country’s Constitution or Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, would not survive.

A day earlier, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office posted on its website a story from pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao on the full text of the Hong Kong Democratic Progress Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems white paper.

The white paper, issued by the State Council in December 2021, renewed the central government’s pledge to pursue the ultimate goal of electing the city’s leader and legislature by universal ­suffrage, while highlighting China’s determination to ­develop democracy with “Hong Kong characteristics”.

In her own letter, Ip said: “The democratic system that Hong Kong possesses today is truly a precious gift bestowed upon its seven million residents by the central government … We should cherish it all the more.”

Citing her nearly 50 years in serving Hong Kong since she joined the British colonial government in 1975, she noted that residents had absolutely no opportunity to participate in Legco before the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.