My Take | Has China breached the joint declaration? You decide
Over the years, but especially since the publication of the State Council's white paper, pan-democrats and Occupy activists have repeatedly claimed Beijing has breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Has China breached the Sino-British Joint Declaration?
Over the years, but especially since the publication of the State Council's white paper, pan-democrats and Occupy activists have repeatedly claimed Beijing has breached it. This is almost always asserted as fact, which requires no further discussion or proof. Recent statements made by our last governor Chris Patten have also revisited this issue. But is the alleged breach a fact or a myth? To get an answer, there is no need to take anyone's word for it. Just read the text itself in its totality and decide for yourself.
The text consists of the Joint Declaration itself, three annexes and the memoranda. The pan-democratic allegation consists of two primary claims:
- Beijing has breached the "high degree of autonomy" promised to Hong Kong in section 3(2) of the declaration.
- Beijing has undermined political freedoms such as free elections implicitly guaranteed in section 3(4).
These two guarantees are repeated in section 1 of annex 1 on the constitution of the Basic Law. Our autonomy consists of a wide range of public functions, not just selective or controversial government or executive decisions and programmes. Annex 1 lists the following: legal and judicial systems, public service, finance, economic and monetary systems, shipping, aviation, education, defence and foreign affairs, basic rights and freedoms, right of abode, travel, immigration and land leases (in annex 3). To decide on the breach of autonomy, you will have to examine each of these fields. As for political freedom, there is simply no mention of "democracy" or "universal suffrage" in the text.
For them, you have to go to the Basic Law. Both Britain and China have fulfilled a major treaty obligation by promulgating the Basic Law, which sets the terms for universal suffrage, along with the post-handover interpretations by the standing committee of China's parliament. It is precisely this question over which our community is now deeply divided and fighting over. Both pan-dems and Beijing loyalists have accused each other of breaching the Basic Law in their respective chief executive election models. About this fight, the Joint Declaration is almost completely irrelevant.