A few days ago, the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 was read the Second and Third times and passed by the Legislative Council, which seeks to adapt expressions that are not in line with the constitutional status of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and to repeal obsolete provisions or expressions in certain ordinances.
Priscilla Leung, Chairman of the Bills Committee on Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024, said that it was not uncommon to see many words relating to the colonial style of governance in legislation, e.g. Her Majesty the Queen, the Crown, loyal to the British Government, etc.
She also noted that there were a lot of words and phrases in the legislation relating to the colonial style.
She cited as examples that some people proposed "Hong Kong independence" in 2019, and some people held the British flag and said they were loyal to the British Emperor, and such behaviors “were obviously influenced by the subtle influence of the relevant terms.”
The Central Government has fully considered and respected the immediate feelings of Hong Kong compatriots and allowed everything to remain unchanged in Hong Kong after the handover, maintaining the free market operation. However, this does not mean that the mark of British colonial rule can be retained indefinitely in the governance structure involving national sovereignty.
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