TNAG-2118-FCO40-3024-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 51

10.

In the event, the National People's

Congress has adopted a decision (which has

the force of law) reaffirming the

constitutionality of the Basic Law. And

anyway, Articles 5 and 11 of the Basic Law

are very clear: they specify that the

socialist system and policies shall not be

practised in Hong Kong. The systems that

apply will be based on the provisions of the

Basic Law which essentially describe the

existing capitalist system. Finally, during

the National People's Congress which adopted

the Basic Law, China's senior policy maker

on Hong Kong, Ji Pengfei made further

commitments. He said "our country is a

socialist country.

Socialism is the

fundamental system of our country. But to

realise the unification of our country,

another type of social system, that is the

capitalist system, can be practised in

individual regions of our country". All of

this adds up to a typically pragmatic, but

clear and binding, solution to a difficult

problem.

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