‘One country, two systems’ for Hong Kong could be scrapped if it is used to confront Beijing, official says

The “one country, two systems” policy under which Hong Kong is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for half a century may be scrapped if it becomes a tool to confront Beijing, the legal chief of the central government’s liaison office in the city has warned.

Commemorating the 27th anniversary of the Basic Law, Leung said the autonomy Hong Kong was enjoying was authorised by Beijing and was not “full autonomy”, and the careful implementation of the governing formula was the best arrangement for both Hong Kong and the nation.

Wang, a former Tsinghua University law dean, devoted a significant part of his keynote speech to attacking rising separatist sentiments in the city, as he reiterated that “one country” must come before “two systems”.

“If the ‘two systems’ part ... is severely distorted or even [becomes a tool] to confront and damage ‘one country’, then the reasons and conditions for the ‘two systems’ to exist would be lost,” Wang said.