UNCLASSIFIED
It
7. The next section (99-112) analyses the commitment to keeping the capitalist system and way of life unchanged for 50 years. rejects arguments that because a capitalist system has to be maintained in Hong Kong, then mainland China would also have to abandon the path of socialism. This would be completely wrong. If China changed its socialist system, then Hong Kong would not be able to enjoy "no change for 50 years". A long unsourced quotation from Deng Xiaoping illustrated the point: "To really achieve the goal of no change for 50 years and no change for the years thereafter, the socialist system of the mainland must remain unchanged. That we are opposed to bourgeois liberalism is precisely because we need to ensure that the socialist system of China will remain unchanged. We need to ensure that the entire
policy will remain unchanged, that the policy of internal revitalization and the policy of opening to the outside world will remain unchanged." (104) The section goes on to argue that the commitment to the principle of maintaining the system unchanged for 50 years does not mean that specific systems which do not conform to Hong Kong social development have also to remain unchanged. It would be possible to improve certain specific systems on their original basis in accordance with the Basic Law. The basic idea of 'one country, two systems' was of extreme significance in a number of aspects. Firstly, it is conducive to the unification of China. The book draws a specific parallel between the resolution of the Hong Kong and Macao questions and that of Taiwan. Another fascinating little unsourced quotation from Deng Xiaoping was used in this context: "It is no good resolving a question through non-peaceful means or, in other words, by force." (108) Secondly, the maintenance of the capitalist system in Hong Kong would be conducive to the stability and prosperity of the SAR and to promoting China's socialist modernization. In Deng Xiaoping's words: "Failure to guarantee the continued practice of the capitalist system in Hong Kong and Taiwan will mean failure to maintain their prosperity and stability as well as failure to peacefully resolve the question." Thirdly, the idea has international significance and provides a model for peaceful solution to many international problems left over from history.
8. The next section (112-131) deals with the remaining in force of the laws previously enforced in Hong Kong with the obvious exception of those instruments which uphold the colonial rule of the UK (such as the Letters Patent and the Royal Instructions). This section analyzes in some detail the provisions in Article 8 of the Basic Law providing for the maintenance of the common law, rules of equity, ordinances, subordinate legislation and customary law. The meaning of each of these concepts and their application to Hong Kong is analyzed. There is also brief discussion of the caveats, that they shall not be changed unless they contravene the Basic Law or have been amended by the Legislature of the SAR. further section illustrates that English laws applicable to Hong Kong are not considered laws previously enforced in Hong Kong and therefore do not fall into the category of laws to be maintained. According to the book's analysis, the sole purpose of extending
A
UNCLASSIFIED
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.