A forum on The National Day & the National Constitution and Reform and Opening-up was held in Hong Kong yesterday.　　The forum, hosted by the Endeavour Education Centre and jointly supported by the SAR Government and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, shows that promoting and studying the National Constitution in Hong Kong is a common task and duty of non-governmental organisations, the SAR Government and Central Government's institutions in Hong Kong.　　This is quite significant.

　　The forum invited Shen Chunyao as the keynote speaker, who is Chairman of both the Legislative Affairs Commission and the Basic Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).　　In his speech, Shen Chunyao pointed out: the Constitution is the country's fundamental and highest law and its [legal] authority covers all of the country's territories and domains, including the Hong Kong SAR; the highest embodiment of "one country two systems" in the country's rule of law lies in the National Constitution, and there exists in Hong Kong no "constitutional system" and "rule of law" that is detached from the National Constitution.　　"It is incomplete and inaccurate to emphasis on one side or to divide the two (the Constitution and Basic Law) and put one in contradiction to another.　　Nor does this accord with the reality in Hong Kong since its return to the Motherland."

　　For the Hong Kong SAR marking the National Constitution Day, these words by Shen Chunyao are particularly pertinent and necessary.　　In fact, right now on some concrete issues, isn't the opposition separating the implementation of the Basic Law from the respect and safeguard of the National Constitution and even putting one in contradiction to another?

　　Verbally the opposition members also have to mention the Basic Law, don't dare not to mention the National Constitution and don't dare not to acknowledge the Constitution's supreme constitutional status in the SAR.　　 However, when it comes to practice and comes to implementation, they separate the two and make them contradict one another, as if the Basic Law's authority would have been suppressed and weakened whenever safeguarding and following the National Constitution is mentioned.　　So much so that they even make a fool of themselves by "confusing the big with the small and the primary with secondary" and "mixing up the son with the mother".

　　In the past, such fallacies of putting the cart before the horse and turning right into wrong have surfaced on occasions such as disqualifying some lawmakers or outlawing some organisation seeking "independence for Hong Kong", under the opposition's deliberate distortion and misinterpretation. They described advocating and supporting "independence for Hong Kong" as freedom of speech and freedom of the press and asserted banning such "freedom" as "violating the Basic Law", turning a blind eye and giving no heed to the Constitution's stipulations on safeguarding national sovereignty, security and interests of development.

　　The opposition persistently claims that the National Constitution is "not applicable" or "not necessarily applicable" to Hong Kong, and its only so-called "ground" is Article 5 of the Basic Law which stipulates: "The socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years."

　　In this way, as long as the SAR Government sticks to handling affairs in accordance with the law by disqualifying lawmakers refusing to take the loyalty oath or curbing pro-independence activities, they would shout loudly to assert that "one country two systems" now exists only in name and Hong Kong has already become "mainlandised".　　For a long period of time, there has been a lack of publicity and promotion for the National Constitution in Hong Kong, hence the general public has little knowledge about it.　　As a result, the opposition's fallacies have been quite marketable for some time, so much so that they even have moved to talk about opposing the National Constitution as safeguarding the "rule of law" in the SAR.

　　In view of such facts, therefore, it is not only very necessary but also very urgent to carry out activities marking the National Constitution Day in Hong Kong.　　Fallacies putting the Basic Law in contradiction to the National Constitution and asserting that violation of the National Constitution also accorded with the rule of law must no longer be tolerated.　　The cruciality of such fallacies lies in that they distort the relationship between the SAR and the Central Government and State to turn "two systems" into "two countries".　　This is absolutely intolerable.

　　There exists in Hong Kong no "constitutional system" and "rule of law" that is detached from the National Constitution.　　This is the most important reminder given by Chairman Shen Chunyao in his speech yesterday, which deserves to be given heed to and deeply pondered over by Hong Kong society. 05 December 2018