Promotion on the Constitution vital for HK: Heavyweights

The city’s community is calling for “make-up lessons” in Hong Kong on the national Constitution to improve people’s understanding on the country’s fundamental principles.

Leaders’ remarks came when Hong Kong commemorated the National Constitution Day on Monday.

Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the nation’s top Hong Kong affairs think tank — Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies — said promoting the Constitution would benefit the implementation of “one country, two systems”.

He said as there was no systematic elaboration on the relationship between the Basic Law, the city’s constitutional document, and the Constitution, a series of wrong opinions had emerged in society. Hong Kong must step up education efforts on the Constitution.

Legislator and Barrister Priscilla Leung Mei-fun urged the government to clarify to the public that the Constitution is the root of the “one country, two systems” principle.

Leung observed the special administrative region government had been too tolerant of political radicals, offering room for the public’s misjudgment on Hong Kong’s relationship with the country.

“Though it may take time, Hong Kong has to have make-up lessons on knowledge over the Constitution,” Leung said.

She suggested the government put together an education program on the Constitution and Basic Law.

She was echoed by Albert Chen Hung-yee, a member of the Hong Kong SAR Basic Law Committee. Chen said the Constitution and Basic Law were inseparable. Without knowing the Constitution, one can hardly understand the Basic Law.

Thus he also urged the government to put Constitution education into the ongoing official Basic Law education campaign.

Hong Kong delegate to the National People’s Congress Brave Chan Yung attributed the idea of “Hong Kong independence” to people’s lack of accurate knowledge of the Constitution and Basic Law.

He stressed the Basic Law originated from the Constitution. As both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland attach great importance to the rule of law, it is necessary now for the city’s people to know more about the Constitution.

Prior to the Constitution symposium, Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR — the central government’s top liaison official in the city, on Sunday said it’s of great practical and far-reaching significance for the city to observe National Constitution Day. This is because the Constitution and Basic Law have the relationship of “mother law” and “infra-law” — and the Constitution is the source of all legal power of the Basic Law.