wider use of Chinese became possible in court proceedings, people would still make oral statements in Cantonese, and not kuo yu or
modern style of the written language. I would oppose any suggestion for the use of kuo yu or putonghua in courts, which is not only impractical but also detrimental to public confidence. The differences between Hong Kong and mainland China must be preserved, otherwise the concept of "one country; two systems" will not succeed. Although the Chinese version of bilingual legislation is likely to be written mainly in the modern Chinese language (or kuo yu), oral statements and interpretations should be carried out in Cantonese. Some problems may arise from the gap
between the written language and the spoken dialect. These problems should be dealt with as and when they occur. Any attempt to align the written language and spoken dialect will only end up in complete failure. Hong Kong has always been open to the rest
of the world and the external contacts have brought it ahead of China in many respects; China, on the other hand, has remained relatively closed to the outside world until the last decade. The Chinese language spoken and written by the people of Hong Kong is much richer in content and more diversified in usage. It is therefore unwise to forgo a richer and more diversified medium of expression in order to achieve harmonization.
At the Committee Stage, a new subsection will be introduced into the Official Language (Amendment) Bill to provide that any proposed order declaring a translation of an existing law to be an authentic text cannot take legal effect unless it is laid before LegCo in draft and approved by resolution. The proposed amendment ensures a positive role for LegCo in the process of declaring authentic texts of existing legislation. Principal legislation must be made only by the Legislative Council, whether it is new legislation, or a translated version of existing legislation which has legal force. The functions of the legislature and the executive must remain distinct from each other. Any compromise will mean an infringement of one function upon the other. Declaration of an authentic version by the Governor-in-Council is an infringement of this kind, which must be
avoided.