日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
HongKong Comment(1)

Conditions right for Article 23 legislation

By Kuk Fung | HK Edition | Updated: 2017-12-04 07:51
Share
Share - WeChat

Suggestions to apply national security legislation by amending existing ordinances fail to follow Basic Law and will dull the deterrent effect, Kuk Fung points out

The recent visit by senior officials of the central government to Hong Kong to explain the messages of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China achieved the result they came for, which is to help the city understand the decisions reached at the epic conference in Beijing. Wang Zhimin, director of the Central People's Government's Liaison Office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was among the speakers who gave SAR government senior officials a thorough rundown of what "national awareness, patriotic spirit and national thinking" mean.

The congress made it clear that all Chinese citizens "must fulfill their constitutional duty of safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and development interests"; and Hong Kong must carry out the spirit of the congress too, by fulfilling its constitutional duty proactively. For the SAR, safeguarding national interests is the best way to safeguard "one country, two systems" and the fundamental interests of Hong Kong residents. Regarding national security, conditions are now right for the HKSAR to begin drafting legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law and addressing technical issues.

Wang joined Leng Rong, director of the Party Literature Research Center of the Central Committee of the CPC, on Nov 23 to explain the spirit of the congress to senior SAR government officials. Wang incorporated General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech during his inspection visit to Hong Kong on July 1 in spelling out the meaning and importance of "national awareness, patriotic spirit and national thinking" to understanding and grasping the relationship between the nation's Constitution and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, between the overall jurisdiction over the HKSAR by the central government and the city's high degree of autonomy, between Hong Kong's own development and the nation's development, between "Hong Kong handling its own business with Hong Kong thinking" and "Chinese mainland ways according to Beijing thinking", and between "one country" and "two systems".

Wang reiterated that "one country" is the absolute prerequisite of "two systems"; without "one country" there would be no "two systems". He also hoped Hong Kong will make full use of its strengths and seize every opportunity to integrate its own development into the nation's overall development, do its best in contributing to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as part of its historical duty and enjoy the rewards for helping the motherland become more prosperous and stronger than ever.

An SAR government spokesperson said at a press conference that the 19th National Congress of the CPC is of great and far-reaching importance to the country's development as well as Hong Kong's. Some parts of Xi's congress report directly concern Hong Kong, such as the central authorities' support for the HKSAR to integrate its own development into the overall development of the country, the spokesperson added. The lectures about the congress will help SAR government officials understand the spirit of the Party congress and Xi's report, which in turn will benefit the SAR government's work.

"Benefiting the SAR government's work" should not be words only but also shown in the results of the SAR government's work, particularly in safeguarding national security.

Through Wang's explanation, I trust Hong Kong society has gained a deeper understanding of national awareness, patriotic spirit and national thinking. Some people may have a point in saying that it is not easy for Hong Kong residents to understand what Xi means by "fulfilling the constitutional duty of maintaining the country's sovereignty, national security and development interests", but the same cannot be said of national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law.

For the HKSAR, having delayed fulfillment of a constitutional duty for 20 years is not only unbelievable but also unacceptable. In terms of the objective conditions for the national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law, it is safe to say Hong Kong has them now. As for public opinion, consensus, direction and content of the national security bill, it is up to the SAR government to come up with sound solutions.

I have written previously that Hong Kong society had reached a more or less common understanding over Article 23 legislation, but some people insist the government should learn a lesson from the failed first attempt and apply national security legislation by amending existing laws "piece by piece". For example, they suggested, we can start with amending the Crimes Ordinance by adding offenses such as treason, sedition, subversion, secession and inciting a riot; amending the Official Secrets Ordinance to handle leaking State secrets; and amending the Societies Ordinance to limit connections between local and foreign political organizations.

Those views should be seen as well-meant but fragmenting national security legislation and inserting bits and pieces into different laws will be problematic. For a start they fail to follow Article 23 of the Basic Law exactly, which stipulates: "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies", without mentioning amending existing laws. Secondly this move would minimize such laws' deterrent effect. In many countries, be it a common-law or civil-law system, a national security law exists alongside other laws that contain similar provisions against certain crimes because it is deemed necessary for safeguarding national security.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 12/04/2017 page8)

Today's Top News

Editor's picks

Most Viewed

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日本一区二区高清视频 | 男女猛烈视频 | 欧美性一区二区三区 | 婷婷综合久久狠狠色99h | 免费网站观看 | 亚洲AV综合AV国产AV | 亚洲先锋资源 | 久久中文字幕一区二区 | 天天噜日日噜夜夜噜 | 天堂资源在线观看 | 日韩欧美亚洲 | 欧美一区二区三区成人精品 | 国产日产在线观看 | 免费观看一级特黄欧美大片 | 久久精品2 | 午夜影晥 | 欧美福利视频一区二区三区 | 精品人妻无码一区二区三区手机板 | 日本精品不卡 | 中文字幕 在线观看 | www.99热| 精久久久久| 亚洲视频一区在线 | 精品久久久久久亚洲 | 色婷婷色 | 日本视频在线免费 | 精品视频一区二区三区在线播放 | 国产成人精品视频播放 | 国产精品久久久久久久久久久新郎 | 狠狠躁夜夜躁人人爽天天miya | 亚欧免费视频一区二区三区 | 久久久久成人网 | 国产美女的小嫩bbb图片 | 成人嗯啊视频在线观看 | 亚洲欧美在线免费观看 | 成人一区二区三区在线观看 | xifan在线a精品一区二区视频网站 | 亚洲国产二区 | 精品一区二区日本高清 | 色哦色哦哦色天天综合 | 免费激情网站 |