The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed a resolution to extend the term of the sixth Hong Kong Legislative Council on Tuesday.
The unexpected surge in COVID-19 infections in July constituted a grave threat to public health. As a result, the seventh LegCo election could not go ahead as planned on Sept 6 and had to be postponed for one year. Such a situation was clearly not foreseen when the Basic Law was drafted. There were two solutions to the extraordinary circumstances. One was to comply with Article 69 of the Basic Law, which specifies that the term of office of the lawmakers shall be four years. If that was the case, a temporary or transitional LegCo had to be set up after the current term expired in September. The second option was to extend the tenure of the incumbent lawmakers for one year. No matter which measure the NPCSC adopted, it was exercising its constitutional power and discharging its responsibility as the permanent body of the NPC, which is the highest organ of State power.
Before the postponement of the LegCo election was announced, 12 aspirants, including four incumbent lawmakers, had been disqualified from the race. So before the NPCSC reached its decision, the Hong Kong community had already been discussing whether the four lawmakers in question should be allowed to participate in legislative affairs in the coming year.
Some had proposed that if a provisional or transitional legislature were established, it should be composed of the incumbent lawmakers excluding the four disqualified members, who would be replaced by new members. Such a scenario might spark controversy and hinder the anti-pandemic effort.
Should there be any individuals within the opposition camp who truly love Hong Kong, they should distance themselves from foreign intervention and participate in the city’s anti-pandemic effort. ... If any member of the opposition camp truly loves Hong Kong, they should understand the good intentions of the central government, and stop making groundless accusations against Beijing
After assessing the situation, the central authorities decided to allow the current LegCo to continue to operate for another year. It should be clear that the central authorities want COVID-19 to be brought under control in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Some anti-Beijing political groups called on all opposition lawmakers to boycott the transitional legislature before the NPCSC decided to extend the sixth LegCo. Now political parties and politicians who do not wish to side with the radicals to resist the central government should take this chance to think over their next move.
The postponement of the LegCo election and the extension of the incumbent LegCo are both intended to allow Hong Kong to focus on its top priority of combating COVID-19. In fact, the first and second waves of the pandemic from late January to early June have aggravated Hong Kong’s economic recession since the second quarter of last year. According to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong’s GDP contracted by 9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, meaning that the city has been in an economic downturn for five consecutive quarters. The current recession is much worse than the one during the Asian financial crisis in 2008, which lasted for four quarters. Fortunately, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of this year was not higher than the worst on record in 2003. However, since the third wave of COVID-19 is worse than the two previous outbreaks, economic conditions in the third quarter will deteriorate further, and the unemployment rate may hit a record high.
Some may wonder whether Hong Kong can benefit from the economic rebound on the mainland since the second quarter. I believe Hong Kong must first put the pandemic under control and resume personnel exchanges with the mainland before it can benefit from its economic rebound. As a highly open city, Hong Kong heavily relies on the service sectors. Among them, the tourism industry has been brought to a halt because of the entry restrictions. In addition, the pandemic has compelled the SAR government to repeatedly restrict social interactions. As a result, the catering industry has sunk into a deep recession, and sectors such as the beauty industry have temporarily shut down. Macao, on the other hand, has resumed personnel exchanges following the success of its anti-pandemic effort. Hong Kong must now have a sense of urgency to contain the pandemic, resume personnel exchanges with the mainland and other parts of the world, and enable the service industry to rebound from the slump. All these are important to our economy as well as the well-being of 7.5 million residents.
Washington has tried every possible means to disrupt the coordinated effort between the central and the SAR governments in uniting the Hong Kong community to combat the pandemic. The day before the NPCSC started its meetings, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese officials responsible for handling Hong Kong affairs, including Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. Washington also mobilized the foreign secretaries of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance to issue a joint statement condemning the postponement of the LegCo election. As the central government has adopted a noncontroversial approach to bridge the legislative vacuum, Washington and its allies will not succeed in their anti-China Hong Kong plot. Should there be any individuals within the opposition camp who truly love Hong Kong, they should distance themselves from foreign intervention and participate in the city’s anti-pandemic effort.
The central government fully supports Hong Kong’s fight against the pandemic, sending medical teams from the mainland to help conduct citywide virus tests and construct temporary hospitals and quarantine centers. If any member of the opposition camp truly loves Hong Kong, they should understand the good intentions of the central government, and stop making groundless accusations against Beijing.
The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
