The speech of Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), at a symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of implementing the Basic Law has aroused hearty responses in Hong Kong soceity. Some people maintain that the speech clarifies the fundamental issue where the SAR derives its powers from. But the opposition and trouble-making Apple Daily instead cry out in alarm that the space of a high-degree of autonomy is being "incessantly narrowed", and so on and so forth.
As a matter of fact, a lot of political antagonism and social division seen in the SAR in recent years has a lot to do with whether a high degree of autonomy could be correctly understood. Deliberately distorted and misled by the opposition, a high degree of autonomy has been described as the source and foundation of powers for the SAR, as if a high-degree of autonomy were a "cure-all" or "amulet", all words and deeds violating the Basic Law could be wrapped up by this piece of "flowery paper" of a high-degree of autonomy, and all erroneous advocacies could be pursued. "O, a high degree of autonomy, a high degree of autonomy, what crimes are committed in thy name!"
On this, Chairman Zhang Dejiang expounded clearly and forcefully in his speech. The chairman points out that our country resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong is meant to resume the exercise of complete sovereignty including the exercise of the power to govern, and the Central Government exercises overall jurisdiction over the Hong Kong SAR. Based on this, the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR stipulates how the Central Government exercises its overall jurisdiction over the Hong Kong SAR, namely, part of powers being directly exercised by institutions of the Central Government, and part of powers being authorised by the NPC for the Hong Kong SAR to exercise in accordance with the Basic Law. The latter is what usually is called a high degree of autonomy.
Here, Zhang Dejiang not only clearly points out the origin and foundation of this power of a high degree of autonomy for the SAR, but also further clarifies that this is a kind of "authorised" power, not a "division of powers" let alone a "sovereign power", and the authorising party is the Central Government. Under this big premise, any word or deed attempting to split the country in the name of a high degree of autonomy is intolerable, and the Central Government can't just look on without doing anything.
For Hong Kong society, such words by Zhang Dejiang indeed have the effect of enlightening the benighted, helping people to sober their minds and see clearly from the very foundation the nature of a high degree of autonomy and the origin of the SAR's powers, see clearly the relationship between the SAR's powers and the Central Government's powers, so as to eliminate misunderstandings so that each can concentrate on fulfilling its own duties, enabling a high degree of autonomy to be truly implemented in Hong Kong.
For the opposition and trouble-making Apple Daily, however, such an important expounding by Chairman Zhang Dejiang exactly hits the nail on the head, laying bare the lie and fallacy they have been constantly advocating that a high degree of autonomy is equal to "complete autonomy" and "The Central Government must keep its hand off entirely". Gnashing their teeth with hatred, they have made a false countercharge to falsely claim that the space of high degree of autonomy in the SAR will be "narrowed by the Central Government" from now on.
In fact, respecting the Central Government's powers and correctly understanding the relationship of the two kinds of powers - the Central Government's constitutional powers and the SAR's local powers of autonomy - definitely won't result in the space of a high degree of autonomy enjoyed by the SAR in accordance with the law being narrowed.
As pointed out by Chairman Zhang Dejiang in his speech, there indeed exists a high degree of autonomy in the SAR, which however absolutely cannot be used to resist the Central Government, let alone used as an excuse to advocate "localism" and separatism. The Central Government's emphasis on its overall jurisdiction over the SAR is aimed at ensuring the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, and at further safeguarding "one country two systems" and the SAR's long-term prosperity and stability. If national sovereignty, security and interests are hurt, if "one country two systems" cannot be further implemented and safeguarded, then not only prosperity and stability in the SAR cannot be maintained, a high degree of autonomy will also become an empty talk.
30 May 2017
