Tam vows to play ‘connector’ role
Hong Kong’s newly elected sole member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Tam Yiu-chung has pledged to strengthen links between the special administrative region and the mainland by playing the role of a “connector”, promoting knowledge relating to the NPC and contributing Hong Kong’s experience to the nation’s top legislature.
The veteran politician — a new face to the SAR’s 36-strong NPC delegation — was elected to the NPC’s permanent body on Sunday, succeeding Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai. He will attend the committee’s bimonthly meetings in Beijing.
Also elected to the NPCSC are former director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Wang Guangya and Macao’s fourtime NPCSC member Ho Iatseng.
“It’s a great honor for me to be a member of the NPC Standing Committee. I shall not assume that the work ahead will be easy,” Tam told China Daily in an interview.
His election came two days before the 13th National People’s Congress ends its first session on Tuesday.
Tam said his key mission is to promote NPC-related knowledge in Hong Kong and remove certain misunderstandings of the top legislature.
Such misunderstandings, he said, include the wrong perception that the NPC serves only a symbolic role, and that its deputies are “rubber stamps” in passing national laws.
“This is because there’s inadequate and incomplete knowledge of the country’s legislative system.”
Tam pledged that, as an NPCSC member, he will spend more efforts in promoting Hong Kong people’s understanding of the NPC, giving Hong Kong people a full and faithful picture of how the nation’s top legislature works and what impact it would have on people’s daily lives.
The NPC and its standing committee have the power to enact laws in the country, oversee enforcement of the Constitution, decide on major State matters and appoint or remove office members of State organs.
When the NPC is not in session, its standing committee meets once every other month to set agendas for meetings of the standing committee, hear testimony on proposed bills and work reports on specific issues made by the State Council, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, examine relevant bills and reports and vote on bills.
In addition, Tam added, efforts would be made to explain what happened during the annual two sessions — the 13th National People’s Congress and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body.
Such work would have two highlights — explaining amendments to the country’s Constitution and introducing the country’s new organ — the National Supervisory Commission, he said.
The NPC approved a total of 21 constitutional amendments on March 11, including inscribing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the preamble and removing the expression that the president and vice-president of the People’s Republic of China “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms” from the country’s Constitution.
“Both the constitutional amendments and the estab- lishment of a new supervisory organ are timely adjustments to the country’s development, and Hong Kong people should have an accurate understanding of them,” Tam said.
He also pledged to share Hong Kong’s experience, especially that in professional aspects like financing and law, with the country when attending NPCSC meetings.
Tam stressed that the central government values Hong Kong and remains committed to upholding “one country, two systems”.
He urged Hong Kong people not to worry about the central government’s stance on the SAR because the central government has vowed to ensure that the principle of “one country, two systems”, with “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong” and “a high degree of autonomy”, will not be bent or distorted in practice.