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Hong Kong’s relationship with the rest of China is a generally fraught issue, leading to the latest flare-up with the website. Photo: AFP

A small change for a government website. A lot of symbolism for Hong Kong democrats

  • The page displaying the city’s founding document has been tweaked to put the Chinese constitution at the top
  • Pro-democracy politicians say the switch is inappropriate, and reflects that ‘the Basic Law is subordinate to the national constitution’

Concerns about mainland China’s influence over Hong Kong have spilled onto the website displaying the city’s founding document, which pro-democracy figures noted has been changed to put the national constitution at the top.

While the switch was welcomed by pro-Beijing politicians, opposition pan-democrats said it was inappropriate for officials to give the Chinese constitution primacy on a website promoting the Basic Law.

The bilingual homepage, run by the city’s Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau and the Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee, used to showcase the full text of the Basic Law, as well as related information and details of past court cases related to the law.

But after an update on February 8, the page’s Chinese-language version features the contents page of the Chinese constitution at the top, and users can click on the different sections to peruse its full text. They would have to scroll down to find the Basic Law. The English-language pages were unchanged.

The symbolic meaning of the web page’s layout is that ‘one country’ has devoured, or covered, ‘two systems’
Lee Cheuk-yan, former Labour Party leader

Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai said the change showed the government wanted to tell Hongkongers that under the “one country, two systems” principle – under which the city is part of China but is promised a degree of autonomy – respecting Beijing’s authority is more important than protecting Hong Kong’s uniqueness.

“The government was trying to play down the characteristics of Hong Kong’s system,” he said, adding that it “showed that the Basic Law is subordinate to the national constitution”.

“We know that the constitution relates to Hong Kong, but it should not be inserted to the Basic Law website,” Wu said.

Former Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan echoed Wu’s sentiments.

Wu Chi-wai said the change “showed that the Basic Law is subordinate to the national constitution”. Photo: Edward Wong

“The symbolic meaning of the web page’s layout is that ‘one country’ has devoured, or covered, ‘two systems’,” he said.

Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu said a similar move was made last year, when the Chinese constitution was added to copies of the Basic Law given to lawmakers.

“I think it is a gesture of political correctness, more than anything,” Yeung said.

But Thomas Cheung Tsun-yung, a member of the steering committee, said the change was intended to help Hongkongers better understand both documents.

The new-look website, with the national constitution at the top. Photo: Handout

“We are not trying to undermine the Basic Law. We just believe that it was incomplete to promote the Basic Law only,” Cheung said.

Since 2015, Premier Li Keqiang has repeatedly said in his annual work report that Beijing will strictly comply with the Chinese constitution and the city’s Basic Law in Hong Kong affairs.

But Cheung said the committee was not promoting the national constitution just because of remarks made by state leaders.

The two documents are related. Under Article 31 of the national constitution, Beijing may establish special administrative regions, and the regions’ systems shall be prescribed by law enacted by the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s legislature. The article forms the legal basis for the promulgation of the Basic Law in 1990 and the establishment of the Hong Kong special administrative region in 1997.

Another committee member, David Wong Yau-kar, also said the addition would help Hong Kong people to understand the relationship between the two constitutional documents.

“Where did the Basic Law come from? It originated from Article 31 of the national constitution. But that was not often talked about in the past,” Wong said.

Give Hong Kong more leeway to end mistrust, leading Chinese scholar says

Both Cheung and Wong are Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress, the country’s legislature.

A spokeswoman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau also said the changes were only to make it easier for people to read the constitution. She noted that both the constitution and the Basic Law form the city’s constitutional basis.

Additional reporting by Sum Lok-kei

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