Local people must respect the authority of the central
government under the "one country, two systems" principle, legal
experts and Basic Law Committee members said yesterday.
Alan Hoo, chairman of Basic Law Institute said that Hong Kong
people should enhance their understanding of the role of the
central government.
He said this after hearing the speech of National People's
Congress Standing Committee chairman Wu Bangguo at a seminar to
commemorate the 10th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law of
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing yesterday.
"It seems that some Hong Kong people have no clear understanding
of sovereignty. For example, some people think that the central
government must act like a rubber stamp to accept the appointment
of officials recommended by the special administrative region
(SAR)," Hoo said.
"Hong Kong has no autonomous power except that given by our
sovereign state. How much autonomous power we enjoy depends on how
much our sovereign state gives us," he said.
Commenting on the "residual power", Basic Law Committee member
Maria Tam said the issue of residual power had been explained
clearly when the Basic Law was promulgated in 1990.
"There is no 'residual power' for Hong Kong," Tam said.
"It will be strange (if chairman Wu does not mention the issue)
as he is describing the implementation of 'one country, two
systems' in Hong Kong and the relationship with the authorization
of the central government," she said.
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
legislator Jasper Tsang said those who are familiar with the Basic
Law should understand that there had been no intention to include
the concept of "the separation of the three powers" in the
mini-constitution during the drafting process.
Tsang said even some Western democratic countries also did not
implement "separation of powers", but that did not mean their
judicial systems were not independent.
City University of Hong Kong political scientist James Sung said
Wu's speech indicated that the central government had the highest
authority, and the executive-led governance structure in Hong Kong
should not be challenged.
(China Daily June 7, 2007)