HK patriotism rule set to fix fallacies

Those who govern Hong Kong must be patriots as it is a political requirement under the “one country, two systems” principle, as well as now being a legal requirement, a senior official of China’s top agency in charge of Hong Kong affairs stressed on Tuesday.

The decision by the country’s top legislature regarding Hong Kong lawmakers’ qualification offers a solid legal basis for the rule, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said in a video speech at a law summit marking the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

On Nov 11, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted a decision stipulating that lawmakers in the city will be stripped of their position if they are found to have broken their pledge of allegiance to the city. Based on this, the Hong Kong government disqualified four Hong Kong opposition lawmakers who had sought foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs.

It is only natural to require those governing the city to love the nation, as the HKSAR is an inalienable part of the country, Zhang said, adding that the requirement is also in line with the original intent of the “one country, two systems” principle.

The NPC Standing Committee’s decision also serves as a good reference for future handling of similar cases, Zhang said.

Over the years, the lack of a correct understanding of “one country, two systems” has led to some fallacies and a bumpy ride for Hong Kong, he said.

Zhang said he was referring to the mistaken idea that the NPC Standing Committee’s decision undermines Hong Kong’s judicial independence or that requiring civil servants to pledge allegiance to the city violates the political neutrality of civil servants. Other examples, he said, were the illegal “Occupy Central” movement in 2011 and the prolonged street violence over the now-withdrawn extradition bill in 2019.

It’s time to set the record straight and right such wrong ideas, Zhang said. Patriotism should come before democracy, freedom and human rights, core values treasured by Hong Kong, he said.

In his opinion, Hong Kong will have more political room to maneuver if it holds tight to the bottom line of patriotism.

Zhang said he is delighted to see the SAR government making efforts to improve systems in areas like oath-taking by civil servants, national education and the qualification of lawmakers. He also noted there have been heated discussions on judicial reforms.

Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at the same event that late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who formulated the “one country, two systems” principle, had pointed out as far back as 1984 that Hong Kong must be governed by patriots.

The one-day summit had panel discussions focusing on interpretation of the Basic Law, responsibility for maintaining national security under the “one country, two systems” principle and the benefits of implementing the principle in the HKSAR.

The signing of one of the world’s largest free-trade deals in history is a “game changer” that will shift the global business landscape, and Hong Kong should seize the opportunity and leverage its strengths in professional services, Hong Kong business magnate Allan Zeman said on Monday.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is “a giant step forward for Asia” and everyone will benefit, said Zeman, chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Group.

“As far as I’m concerned, the business will shift from the West to the East,” he said.

On Sunday, 15 Asia-Pacific countries, including China, Japan, South Korea and 10 members of ASEAN, signed a huge regional free-trade pact after eight years of discussion and negotiation, marking the establishment of the world’s largest trading bloc.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Zeman said people should realize that the deal is great for Asia, as it covers 2.3 billion people and the 15 member nations account for around 30 percent of global GDP.

The trade pact, signed with the intention to reduce tariffs and break trade barriers, includes a mix of high-income, middleincome, and low-income countries.

Zeman said he thinks all the people, rich or poor, will benefit from the pact because the RCEP makes it easy to do business within the region and it will improve people’s livelihoods due to the trickle-down effect.

“The agreement gives a whole new opening to financial services, as well as manufacturing,” Zeman said, adding that reducing tariffs means that member countries can look to trade among each other more easily and become less dependent on Western countries, such as the United States and those in Europe.

Noting Hong Kong has always been the “middleman” between the mainland market and the rest of world in view of its strength in financial services and its common law system and independent judiciary, the business mogul said the global financial hub will continue to provide a strong base for that.

Though Hong Kong is not a member of the pact, the city, a freetrade port, stands to buttress its importance, Zeman said.

Hong Kong has frequent business with RCEP members. In 2018, its trading volume with RCEP members reached $808 billion, accounting for about 72 percent of its overall trading figure that year, according to the Hong Kong government’s Trade and Industry Department.

With tighter trading ties among the 15 countries, Hong Kong is poised to benefit by keeping its door open and working closer with other countries and regions, he added.

Zeman said the RCEP is also good news for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, an 11-city cluster combining two special administrative regions and nine cities in Guangdong province.

“We are talking about 72 million people within the Bay Area, but this (RCEP) makes the market even bigger,” he said.

“I believe that with the strength of technology from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which is the future of (the) innovation and technology industry, this can help every country in Asia get stronger.” Zeman added this will be a two-way cooperation.

He said that trading between technologies will be the future of the world, and the Bay Area is tasked to rival the world’s established tech hub, Silicon Valley, in the long run.

With tighter trading ties among the 15 countries, Hong Kong is poised to benefit by keeping its door open and working closer with other countries and regions.’’

Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group