Constitution ‘guarantees ‘one country, two systems’’
The national Constitution ensures the smooth implementation of “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong people should have an accurate understanding of it, says Huang Lanfa, deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
He was speaking at a seminar in Hong Kong on the national Constitution on Saturday to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the promulgation of the HKSAR’s Basic Law.
The Constitution, he said, is the root and origin of the HKSAR, as well as the cornerstone of safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity, upholding the “one country, two systems” principle, and maintaining the city’s longterm stability and prosperity.
Denying the nation’s social mechanisms set out by the Constitution is, in fact, denying the constitutional foundation of the HKSAR.
Thus, by learning and understanding the Constitution right, it would help ensure that “one country, two systems” is carried out without being bent or distorted, Huang said.
He noted there were quite a number of young people who joined the seminar, describing it as a “good and inspiring phenomenon”. Society wouldn’t want to see a small fraction of young people distancing themselves from the nation due to a lack of understanding of the national Constitution and the Basic Law, he said.
A large-scale promotion of the national Constitution and the Basic Law was launched on Friday. Programs to promote the laws will be held at enterprises and schools in all of Hong Kong’s 18 districts.
Huang hopes that the community will organize more such activities vigorously to enhance education on the national Constitution and Basic Law for young people.
Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, who also attended the event, pledged to continue the government’s full efforts in promoting the Basic Law among various social groups and sectors to allow Hong Kong people to have a correct and full understanding of the relationship between the national Constitution and the Basic Law, as well as the intent of “one country, two systems”, and Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy.
Cheung said “one country, two systems” is the foundation of the SAR’s long-term development and cornerstone for its continued prosperity and stability. It’s important to understand that “two systems” only exists under “one country” and the central government has sovereignty and full authority over the HKSAR, he stressed.
As a special administrative region of the nation, the right that Hong Kong enjoys comes from the central government and is measured and supervised by the Constitution and the Basic Law, Cheung said.
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, executive councilor, lawmaker and New People’s Party chairperson, said advocating Hong Kong independence is not something that can be joked about as advocating separatism is not freedom of expression.
China had had its days of falling apart in its history, and foreign forces that try to split the nation is something that should be dealt with cautiously, Ip told China Daily.
Willa Wu contributed to the story.