One country and two systems both need to be better understood

It has been well recognised that the Basic Law is the basis of our rights, freedoms and privileges. As the catchphrase in a TV promotion succinctly summed it up – “all these flow from the Basic Law”.

The promotion, however, did not go further to broach a broader question. If all we enjoy comes from the Basic Law, where did the Basic Law come from?

The answer is the country’s constitution. Under Article 31, special administrative regions may be set up, the systems of which shall be prescribed by law enacted by the state legislature. In the case of Hong Kong and Macau, capitalism is practised instead of socialism; and hence the concept of “one country, two systems”. This was well explained by a visiting former mainland official on the weekend.

In the most comprehensive analysis yet of the relationship between the constitution and the Basic Law, Qiao Xiaoyang, retired chairman of the national legislature’s Basic Law committee, said it was a constitutional duty for the city to support communist rule and socialism as practised on the mainland.

Although he steered clear of the issue of Basic Law Article 23, under which the city has to enact legislation against subversion and other national security offences, he was unequivocal on the need to suppress independence. He urged the people to support communist rule and the mainland system.