bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jimmy Cheung

A senior state official said yesterday some people in Hong Kong had distorted the Basic Law and deliberately twisted the views of the central government.

National People's Congress Standing Committee vice-chairman Cheng Siwei  cited the recent challenge to the committee's interpretation of the Basic Law  as an example of distortion.

He said the interpretation of the mini-constitution had been carried out prudently.

Speaking in Macau, Mr Cheng said: 'It's true that there is a problem in Hong Kong. Some people have distorted the Basic Law, or even twisted the views of the central government.

'We have to strictly adhere to the Basic Law. For instance, the Basic Law says the NPC Standing Committee has the power to make interpretations.

'But for the sake of upholding the 'one country, two systems' [principle] and the principle of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong, we would exercise the interpretation power in a prudent way,' he said.

The Democrats, meanwhile, are pushing for a less critical motion against the NPC in a renewed attempt to voice their discontent over the constitutional review.

The party said vice-chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan  would table a moderate motion in the legislature on May 19 in response to Beijing's decision to deny Hong Kong universal suffrage in 2007.

The move comes after an attempt by former party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming  to condemn the NPC in the Legislative Council was disallowed by Legco president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai  last week.

Mrs Fan  ruled that it was out of order for the legislature to debate amendments that included accusations against acts of the Standing Committee made according to the Basic Law.

Mr Ho's proposed motion, circulated for comments from pro-democracy lawmakers yesterday, is understood to be less critical than Mr Lee's, but the party has declined to disclose the wording before it is finalised.

Mr Lee had planned to move an amendment to a motion by Frederick Fung Kin-kee, of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood,  to strongly condemn the NPC for abusing its power to rule out universal suffrage for the next chief executive and Legco elections.

A group of pro-democracy activists will stage a candlelight vigil tonight in Chater Garden to commemorate the pro-democracy May 4 Movement  and to  campaign for the early introduction of universal suffrage.



Beijing's views being twisted, says NPC official