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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 13 July 1988
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beyond the SAR's jurisdiction and shall be applied to the SAR. This has clearly exceeded the terms as stipulated in the Joint Declaration which in Annex I provides that only foreign and defence matters are the responsibilities of the Central People's Government and that other matters are to be handled by the Hong Kong SAR.
Furthermore, the terms 'national unity' and 'territorial integrity' are too indefinitive. They can be interpreted to cover a wide range of activities which may lead to the abuse of the SAR's autonomy. It appears that matters of 'national unity' and 'territorial integrity' can be put under the category of national defence and foreign affairs, which have been clearly stated in the Joint Declaration and the draft Basic Law, and I would suggest that these two terms be deleted from the Basic Law.
Another dubious point in the same article is in its last paragraph. It says: ‘If the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region fails to act in compliance with the directives given by the State Council, the State Council may decree the application of the above-mentioned law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This may contradict the provisions in article 15 which stipulates that the Hong Kong SAR is vested with executive power. Some reconsideration of this arrangement is clearly necessary or else it may impinge upon the SAR's autonomy.
Article 21, paragraph 4, provides that people from other parts of China must apply for approval for entry into the SAR but it does not state which authority can grant such approval. It is suggested that such power be vested with the SAR Government.
Chapter V of the draft Basic Law, which relates to the SAR's economic policies, is generally considered too specific and restrictive. Many of the provisions in this chapter concern detailed policy instead of a broad guideline for the SAR Government. This will limited the SAR Government's room for manoeuvring and will restrict its ability to take necessary actions when required in the future.
I would like to highlight some of the area in Chapter V that have raised
concern.
Article 105 intends to ensure that the SAR Government will maintain a balanced Budget, which is a valuable practice of the present government and is generally supported. However, the draft Basic Law has gone too far in stipulating how such balanced Budget is to be achieved. The related provisions, it appears, are not necessary. All that the Basic Law needs to state is the principle of a balanced Budget, the rest can be left to the SAR Government.
Similar criticisms have also been made on articles 106, 107 and 108 which concern tax policies. If the Basic Law is drafted in such a restrictive manner, the SAR Government may from time to time be challenged in court for not