Chinese constitution applies to gaps in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, minister Patrick Nip says in talk about calls for end to ‘one-party dictatorship’

City’s secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs makes remark during discussion over whether those who call for change should be stopped from standing for election

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Lawmakers debated whether the Chinese constitution meant people attacking the one-party system could be barred from standing for election in Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 8:00am, 17 May 2018Updated: 5:20pm, 17 May 2018

The Chinese constitution applies to Hong Kong when there is a gap in the city’s Basic Law, a senior official told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen made the remark when asked whether calling for the end of one-party rule in China was “unconstitutional”.

Nip was responding to HK First lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching over the eligibility of people who have chanted “end to one-party dictatorship” to stand as candidates in council elections.

Nip did not elaborate on his comment that the Chinese constitution applied when there were gaps in areas covered by the Basic Law. Photo: Nora Tam

Mo’s question was prompted by a comment from Wang Guangya, the former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, who said last month that people who chanted the slogan should not be allowed to run for political office, as the call “contravenes the national constitution”.

Wang was one of the mainland and Hong Kong political heavyweights to have made similar comments, after the national constitution was amended in March to say the leadership of the Communist Party was “the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

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