By Augustus K. Yeung
Introduction
The Basic Law is an established legal entity; it is well-known to even schoolchildren. But how many of us understand its meaning, not to mention lending it credence and giving it respect?
The Basic Law is abstract; however, its significance can be better understood through the following five issues and the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, whose interpretations in the last 25 years have given it the breath of life.
In 1999, just two years after the handover, a political storm erupted when the Hong Kong government asked the Standing Committee to interpret the Basic Law after losing two cases that went before the Court of Final Appeal.
Tung's Initiated First Issue Known as "the Right of Abode"
In January of the same year, the city's top court ruled against the government in judicial review cases over the rights of children born on the mainland to live in Hong Kong if either parent was a permanent resident or citizen of the city.
The cases centered on the constitutionality of Hong Kong's Immigration Ordinance, and the court was asked if it mattered that a child was born before either parent became a permanent resident, and if the law applied to adult children born before either parent became a permanent resident.
The court was also asked if children claiming the right of abode were subject to the mainland's one-way permit quota system for allowing those across the border to move to Hong Kong.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the ordinance contradicted the Basic Law's Article 24, which gave the right of abode in Hong Kong to all children of permanent residents…
The top court ruled that Article 24 included adult children of parents from the mainland if either parent had permanent residence. It also ruled that claimants of right of abode did not need one-way permits to move to Hong Kong.
The city's then-chief executive, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, decided to ask Beijing for its interpretation of the Basic Law.
In June of that year, the NPC standing committee ruled that the right of abode applied only to children born after either parent obtained permanent residence. It also said those claiming the right of abode were subject to the mainland quota system and needed a one-way permit to move to Hong Kong. That became known as "the city's 1999 interpretation". This is the first issue.
Hong Kong's opposition camp and some vocal "leaders" in the legal sector were frustrated; they criticized the government and blamed it for turning to Beijing.
People who supported the move said Beijing had greatly and wisely helped to defuse a likely population explosion for Hong Kong: If the court's ruling had stood, there would have been a potential influx of mainlanders.
In its January 1999 ruling against the government, the Court of Final Appeal asserted that if the NPC or its standing committee did something that contravened the Basic Law or was unlawful, it could declare it invalid.
This assertion sparked an uproar among constitutional experts in Beijing.
In February, the top court clarified that the NPC and its standing committee's decisions were not to be challenged, especially when the power of the judiciary derived from a mini-constitution drawn up by the NPC, clarifying and emphasizing that it would be the same in other common law jurisdictions – under the principle of parliamentary supremacy.
Three Other Issues Courted the Standing Committee's Interpretations
Since 2020, there have been four decisions:
First, was the imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in June 2020 after months of anti-government protests that had increasingly turned violent aided by "foreign" forces.
The others were the extension of LegCo's term amid the COVID-19 pandemic plus the disqualification of lawmakers, or lawbreakers – deemed to have endangered national security.
Another significant decision was the drastic overhaul of the electoral system to ensure only "patriots" were in charge.
The implementation of the National Security Law is a social stabilizer that has finally brought order back to the community, whose young generation had over the years been brainwashed, especially by the Professional Teachers' Union (now defunct).
Cheung Man-Kwong, the union chief, and many of its board governors were adamantly "anti-China and aimed at bringing chaos to Hong Kong".
Entered Two "Newfies" Who Disrespected China While Taking Oaths
The last time the NPC standing committee gave an interpretation was in 2016, after newly elected lawmakers Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching inserted anti-China disrespectful words and deliberate mispronunciations while taking their Legislative Council oaths.
Hence, the standing committee ruled that new lawmakers who failed to take their oath sincerely or properly could be disqualified immediately.
From a national educational perspective, this ruling proved to be most effective in chastising the radical young Hongkongers; they had become recalcitrant and rebellious in the city, culminating in the storming of the Legislative Council in 2019; even naïve schoolchildren were misled by their "teachers".
This is the lost generation! A great failure resulting from not properly understanding the significant Basic Law, comparable to essential "basic grammar" if anyone wants to master the English language.
Conclusion
The "One country, two systems" slogan, or seminal principle of governance was never given serious consideration in the city, whose spirits have now been made clear by the standing committee through its interpretations of the Basic Law.
For the pessimists – who had politicized, protested, and left the city for a new life in Britain – they have lost the city they claimed to love.
For the optimists, they are now more determined than ever to build a post-pandemic modern rejuvenating China which inspires many other Asian countries, resulting in a roaring rising Asia.
Hong Kong's ideologically biased opposition denounced the standing committee's interpretations as "Beijing's interference".
For us, those rulings have helped to better understand the Basic Law; consequently, we're determined to build a brave new world-class city with "Beijing's blessings".
The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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