Constitution revision offers chance to raise awareness in HK

Proposed amendments to the national Constitution offered an opportunity to raise Hong Kong people’s awareness of the Constitution, the central government’s top liaison official in the city said on Wednesday.

Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, made these remarks when meeting the Hong Kong delegation to the national legislature — the National People’s Congress — during the annual two sessions in Beijing.

Revision of the national Constitution gave people in Hong Kong a chance to strengthen their awareness of the Constitution and establish a culture of respecting its authority, Wang said.

This helps people in the city firmly safeguard constitutional order in the SAR under the Constitution and Basic Law, Wang said.

He emphasized the importance of people being aware of the Constitution. Wang said compatriots in the HKSAR had lived under the national constitutional order and governance system established by the Constitution since the city’s return to China.

“The nation’s Constitution is the foundation of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, the SAR as well as its social systems,” Wang said.

Implementation of “one country, two systems”, establishment of the HKSAR, application of the Basic Law and the SAR’s high degree of autonomy are all authorized by the Constitution, Wang stressed. It was also the foundation of maintaining long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, he added.

Wang said the SAR’s people should be aware that any act that undermines the mainland’s socialist system violates the spirit of the Constitution.

Chaos would be triggered in Hong Kong if anyone made such moves and the relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland would be also hurt.

Wang said he believed the amendment to the Constitution was a milestone in improving the country’s legal system. It will drive the whole country, including the HKSAR, to form a better atmosphere to obey, learn about, respect and safeguard the Constitution.

The supervisory commissions proposed in amendments to the Constitution will create more opportunities for the SAR, Wang added.

Wang referred to the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong in 1974, set up to deal with rampant corruption in the city in the 1960s and 70s.

Wang believed the ICACequivalent will be a powerful force in creating a healthier society on the mainland as well.

It will help consolidate the honest and clean political ecology, develop better government-business relationships and effectively release market vitality, Wang said.

The Party made public its proposal on amendments to the Constitution on Feb 25. The proposal, submitted to the NPC, is expected to be deliberated and voted during the ongoing NPC meetings in Beijing.