I write regarding the significance of the words 'If there is a need to amend', 'gradual and orderly' and 'actual situation' in the Basic Law and Annex 1 as discussed over the last few weeks in the press.
The words 'If there is a need to amend' in Article 7 of Annex 1 relate back to the need for amendment provided elsewhere in the Basic Law and annexes rather than postulating in themselves a separate and vague condition for amendment. They are general words of a recapitulative or linking function rather than constituting a substantive condition.
The mandated 'gradual and orderly' change does not include 'no change', 'intermittent change', 'stalling' or 'backtracking'.
Hong Kong's 'actual situation' includes the fact that it is a vibrant western-style economy - regularly voted the freest in the world - emerging from colonial rule, whose people now want to be able to vote for their leader according to democratic principles.
For better or worse, Hong Kong is subject to market forces and it is imperative to maintain market confidence to keep it strong. Every step towards democracy in Hong Kong has inspired renewed market confidence. Every attempt to diminish democracy in Hong Kong has damaged market confidence. Hong Kong's actual situation also includes its constitution under the Basic Law as a special administrative region, unlike any other in China, with the grant of special rights and responsibilities and a mandated gradual and orderly progression towards universal suffrage.
The amendment mechanism in the Basic Law and annexures provides the flexibility necessary to match electoral provisions to Hong Kong's actual situation as it develops.