Chinese constitution should apply in Hong Kong and Basic Law is only a supplement, Beijing legal scholar Wang Zhenmin argues

Tsinghua University professor says Basic Law ensures the constitution is still applicable in Hong Kong ‘as a whole’

Wang was appointed legal chief of Beijing’s liaison office in city in 2016

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Wang Zhenmin’s article was not published in his official capacity as the liaison office’s legal chief. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 10:19pm, 29 Nov 2018Updated: 12:38am, 30 Nov 2018

A Beijing legal scholar has argued that the Chinese constitution should apply in Hong Kong while the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, was only a supplement and an adaptation of the national one.

Tsinghua University law professor Wang Zhenmin made the argument in an article in the latest issue of Bauhinia magazine published on Thursday, as a special contribution to mark China’s National Constitution Day next Tuesday.

Pro-establishment politicians in Hong Kong endorsed Wang’s arguments but opposition pan-democrats warned it could give people the impression that Beijing was trying to diminish the role of the Basic Law.

Wang Zhenmin says the socialist ideologies and systems in the Chinese constitution are amended and supplemented through the Basic Law. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Appointed the legal chief of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong in 2016, Wang, 52, was expected to return to Tsinghua this month. The liaison office has not announced any change regarding his post but the article was not published in his official capacity.

Wang drew fire in July when he told a Basic Law forum that the Chinese constitution should be “fully applicable” across Hong Kong as there was a new constitutional order after the city returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.