Has China departed from its policy towards Hong Kong since 1997? This is the basic question raised by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's interpretation of two key clauses of Hong Kong's Basic Law.
While the significance of this development should not be underestimated, one should not confuse it with a change in China's basic policy towards Hong Kong. Indeed, it is deceptive to consider 'one country, two systems' and 'a high degree of autonomy' as Beijing's basic policy since it secured the retrocession of Hong Kong from Britain in 1984.
Autonomy and the protection of the liberal capitalist system in Hong Kong per se have never been China's policy. The fundamental principle guiding China's policy towards Hong Kong is that of exercising maximum flexibility within a rigid framework. The framework is that of upholding the People's Republic's sovereignty and the Chinese Communist Party's pre-eminence in China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The Communist Party will make no compromise on this matter. The only variable is what 'maximum' flexibility means in practice. The degree of flexibility at any time is determined by the context in which the Chinese leadership sees its position. 'Maximum' has always meant the maximum scope permissible without infringing upon the rigid framework.
When the leadership in Beijing feels confident that its interests and position in Hong Kong are well protected, it is more relaxed and 'maximum' flexibility involves a greater scope of flexibility than when it lacks confidence. This happened after the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984 and lasted, with an exception in 1989, until the replacement of David Wilson by Chris Patten as governor in 1992. The scope of flexibility was reduced when China realised that it could not exercise much influence over Mr Patten and thus did not feel confident about its position in Hong Kong in the run-up to handover.
Once Mr Patten left the scene and Beijing had its own trusted chief executive to run the city in 1997, it regained its confidence. This explains why China visibly interfered less in Hong Kong affairs after the handover.