A TOP Chinese official should be stationed in Hong Kong after the handover to oversee the operation of mainland institutions in order to guarantee the full implementation of the Basic Law, a Hong Kong affairs adviser suggested.
Although the proposal was criticised as an invitation to central interference, its initiator, Chang Ka-mun, maintained this was an effective mechanism to ensure the realisation of the 'one country, two systems' principle.
With the imminent changeover, he envisaged that Hong Kong would face a crisis in that some China-based institutions in the territory would form a privileged group and engage in corruption and unfair competition by taking advantage of their own official connections in the mainland.
After 1997, there should be a senior representative from the State Council who had the teeth to co-ordinate these bodies - such as business groups and the People's Liberation Army - to effectively deter them from violating the Basic Law, he said.
The body under the official would also take over the job of Xinhua (the New China News Agency) to strengthen ties between the territory and mainland provincial governments and organisations.
He said he had no trust in regional institutions to observe the mini-constitution when operating in Hong Kong.
'We need a guardian.
