Legal experts warned last night that the NPC Standing Committee's interpretations of the Basic Law would risk undermining Hong Kong's autonomy under 'one country, two systems'.
Bar Association chairman Edward Chan King-sang said the National People's Congress committee could legally interpret the Basic Law. 'The problem is whether it is sensible. I don't see there's any need for the committee to interpret the Basic Law at this stage. The provisions ... are already clear.'
The more interpretations, the more Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy would be undermined, he said. The Article 45 Concern Group echoed this view, saying the rule of law would be threatened.
Mr Chan said the committee was not transparent, as reflected by its reinterpretation of the Basic Law in 1999 over the right of abode saga.
Law Society president Ip Shing-hing said the wording of the annexes were clear. But former solicitor-general Daniel Fung Wah-kin, SC, said the interpretation could remove doubts. 'I hope another interpretation by the standing committee could have been avoided.'