TNAG-1722-FCO40-2415-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1988 — Page 123

1840

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13 July 1988

(1) 'One country, two systems"

'One country, two systems' is a well-conceived concept. It takes into account the realities in Hong Kong on the one hand and achieves the aim of national unity and territorial integrity on the other. It is indeed the best arrangement for both China and Hong Kong. However, in order to give expression to this concept. I think it is necessary to spell out the ‘one country, two systems' principle in the Baisc Law so as to provide a legal basis. The Baisc Law surely cannot contribute anything towards maintaining and enhancing the confidence of the people of Hong Kong if the principle of 'one country, two systems' is only mentioned in the Preamble but not in the 10 chapters nor the annex. As the legal status of the Preamble has yet to be established, I suggest that the principle of ‘one country, two systems' should be included in Chapter 1: General principles by amending article 4 as follows:

'In accordance with the principle of one country, two systems, socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the existing capitalish system and way of life shall not be changed for 50 years."

Hong Kong will become a special administrative region of the PRC after 1997. It is important that the laws of the HKSAR should not be in conflict with the constitution of China. Therefore, in order to ensure that the plan of 'one country, two systems' will be implemented, considerations should be given to amending the national constitution accordingly.

(2) The Chief Executive

Whether the chief executive of the future HKSAR can provide an effective leadership to the Government will, to a certain extent, hinge upon the degree of co-operation between himself and the legislature, for instance, whether the legislature will give strong support to the policies, bills and budgets introduced by the executive authorities will depend upon the confidence Members of the Legislative Council have in the Chief Executive. On the other hand, whether the Chief Executive will implement the bills passed by the legislature and deal with the questions raised by its members will in turn depend upon his trust in the Members of the Legislative Council. That is why there must be a high degree of mutual trust, understanding and support between the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council. However, as far as the various alternatives for selecting the Chief Executive contained in Annex I of the draft Basic Law are concerned, emphasis is being placed on the spirit of democracy and representativeness of the concerned parties. Nomination and general election are put forward as the major methods to be used in the selection process, and much importance is being attached to the role played by the electoral college and functional constituencies. It is difficult to predict whether the Chief Executive so elected will in practice have the support of the Members of the Legislative Council. The Chief Executive selected by the methods mentioned in alternatives 3 and 4 may not need the support of the legislature. As for the rest of the proposed methods,