14
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 14 July 1988
1887
mark indeed. For we are dealing with a mini-constitution for the future HKSAR, and one bad article will make the whole thing unworkable. And there are I am afraid some such articles in this draft.
My main criticism of the draft Basic Law is that it falls far short of the promises contained in the Joint Declaration; in particular, it does not give to the future HKSAR the high degree of autonomy promised. First, in relation to the constitutional links between the CPG and the HKSAR, it is clear that the CPG wants to retain very firm control over the HKSAR, and this is in breach of the Joint Declaration. Secondly, in relation to the political structure of the HKSAR, although some of the articles relating to this area still contain a number of options, I have every reason to believe that the majority of the members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC) are not in favour of a democratic system of government. And here it is pertinent to remind Members of two sentences in Annex I of the Joint Declaration: 'The legislature of the HKSAR shall be constituted by elections. The executive authorities shall abide by the law and shall be accountable to the legislature.' Sir, we have understood them to mean that the people of Hong Kong will be able to elect their own representatives into the legislature, and through that elected legislature, the people of Hong Kong will be able to hold their government accountable to them. In one word, democracy. But the draft Basic Law now gives us cause to fear that the people of Hong Kong will not be left alone to administer Hong Kong with a sufficiently high degree of autonomy, and that the future HKSAR Government will be no more than a puppet government.
Constitutional links
The Joint Declaration spells out very clearly what the high degree of autonomy is: 'The HKSAR will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreigri and defence affairs which are the responsibility of the CPG'.
It is therefore clear that apart from defence and foreign affairs and a few very specific provisions in the Joint Declaration relating to appointments by the CPG in relation to, for example, the Chief Executive and principal officials and the reporting of laws to the Standing Committee of the NPC for the record, and the like, the HKSAR will be given full autonomy in all other areas.
But this promise was broken in that a number of articles in the draft Basic Law seek to reserve more power to the CPG than contemplated in the Joint Declaration:
Article 17: deals with the application of nation-wide Chinese laws to the HKSAR, and it also includes 'laws which give expression to national unity and territorial integrity.
Article 18: limits the jurisdiction of the courts of the HKSAR, and it also excludes 'cases relating to the executive acts of the CPG`; and