Too soon to talk about 2047? Legal experts split on when Hong Kong should debate its future
Land ownership is the big issue after Beijing’s 50-year guarantee ends, says former lawmaker Ronny Tong
Two legal experts are divided on when talks should start on Hong Kong’s status after 2047 – the year Beijing’s 50-year promise to maintain the city’s way of life under the “one country, two systems” principle expires.
Under Article 5 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, mainland China’s socialist system was not implemented in Hong Kong after the 1997 handover and the city’s capitalist system was guaranteed.
Pan-democratic lawmakers and academics suggested that a discussion on the future should start as soon as possible, as people were worried if the city would become socialist in 2047. Localist activists have proposed a referendum that would include independence as an option for Hong Kong.
At a forum hosted by the Beijing-loyalist Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong law professor Albert Chen Hung-yee, a member of the Basic Law Committee, said it was too early to start the debate.
“Usually when legislation, such as the Basic Law, does not have an expiry date, it shall remain valid until it is amended [to include an expiry clause],” Chen said.
He added that Article 5 originated partly from the British request that Hong Kong should become a special administrative region that exercised capitalism after the handover.