Beijing’s top representative in Hong Kong warns disrespecting Communist Party is to deny constitutionality of ‘one country, two systems’
- ‘Failing to recognise constitution’s supreme status … is to forget how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came about,’ liaison office chief says
- Importance of respecting Chinese system was the main thrust of local and central government officials’ remarks at Constitution Day seminar
Beijing’s top representative in the city has warned that to disrespect the Communist Party’s leadership is to deny the constitutional basis of Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” governing principle.
Speaking at a virtual seminar marking Constitution Day on Saturday, liaison office director Luo Huining tasked the city with “further implementing” safeguards for national security, and said Hong Kong had a bright future as long as residents respected the Chinese system and political power was firmly in the hands of “patriots”.
“Failing to recognise the constitution’s supreme status in Hong Kong and disrespecting the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is to forget how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region came about,” Luo said.
“Practically, this is equivalent to a denial of the constitutional basis of one country, two systems.”
Co-organised by the liaison office and the local government, Saturday’s seminar took place on the 39th anniversary of China’s adoption of the constitution as its fundamental and supreme law, with senior Beijing officials, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and local pro-establishment figures elaborating on the relationship between the document and the city.
Hong Kong’s six disciplined services celebrated the anniversary with flag-raising ceremonies, as did RTHK, whose chief, Patrick Li Pak-kuen, vowed to develop more programming to bolster residents’ sense of national identity.
Meanwhile, top Hong Kong officials, including Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu and the city’s justice, security and education ministers, took to their official blogs and social media pages to extol the importance of upholding China’s constitution.
