The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress concluded its 23rd session in Beijing on Wednesday after announcing several important decisions, one of which concerns the qualification of four members of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. According to the NPCSC decision, four members of the Sixth-Term LegCo who were disqualified to run in the Seventh-Term LegCo Election, originally scheduled for Sept 6, 2020, but postponed until November 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are also ineligible for the extended term in office of no less than a year, effective immediately. It has not only satisfied an urgent demand by millions of Hong Kong residents to kick those abusive politicians out of LegCo but also reaffirmed the importance of “patriots ruling Hong Kong”.

In June 1984, when Deng Xiaoping met with a delegation from the Hong Kong business sector and public figures in Beijing, he emphasized that the principle of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong” must be implemented by patriots as the mainstay. Patriots, he explained, respect their own nation and genuinely support the country resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong but will never harm the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. The Basic Law of the HKSAR stipulates that the chief executive, principal officials, members of the Executive Council, the respective chief justices of the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court, the president of LegCo and the majority of LegCo members must be permanent residents of the HKSAR with no right of abode in any foreign country, while Article 104 of the Basic Law stipulates that the chief executive, principal officials, members of the Executive Council and LegCo, judges of the courts at all levels and other members of the HKSAR judiciary must swear allegiance to the HKSAR of the People’s Republic of China, and to uphold the Basic Law of the HKSAR of the People’s Republic of China. These clauses reflect the principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” put forward by Deng.

However, the implementation of the above-mentioned provisions has experienced wanton obstruction, sabotage and usurping by anti-China and anti-Communist Party forces.

Faithfully implementing the principle of “one country, two systems”, “the people of Hong Kong ruling Hong Kong” and a high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong is an unprecedented undertaking that demands constant attention to correcting mistakes and overcoming hurdles on the go

These political forces went out of their way to misinterpret Deng’s words of “patriots as the mainstay” in implementing “the people of Hong Kong ruling Hong Kong” by insisting Deng meant non-patriots are allowed to be part of the governing establishment of Hong Kong. They also argue that patriots are not required to agree with the country’s political system, and use it as an excuse to demand representation of “pan-democrats”, who are openly committed to overthrowing the Communist Party of China, in the LegCo. Thus they have succeeded in preventing patriots from ruling Hong Kong as effectively as necessary in the past 23 years. As a result of such misinterpretation, it seems, the principal officials of the SAR government were not always on the same page in terms of faithfully implementing “one country, two systems” over the years, even though they were all recommended by the chief executive and appointed by the central government. For the same reason, a considerable number of LegCo seats have been and still are occupied by “pan-democrats” representing the anti-China and anti-CPC forces, who have managed to block national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law so far. Likewise, the judiciary remains dominated by “loyalists” to Western ideology and “values” much more than to the rule of law, as is the Hong Kong Bar Association, resulting in frequent controversial court rulings by judges sympathetic to anti-China and anti-CPC forces.

Secondly, the principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” has not been implemented faithfully because Hong Kong does not have a definitive rulebook or mechanism for the job. Historically, the HKSAR has inherited the dubious tradition of allowing individuals with double or even multiple citizenships to hold public office; and realistically, this problem has yet to be fixed. According to Hong Kong law, one is automatically considered a Chinese citizen residing in the HKSAR unless they declare otherwise to relevant government departments upon registration. That is why British National (Overseas) passport holders can apply for a permanent resident identification card. As a result, some individuals have been able to hold public office reserved for Chinese citizens by withholding the fact they also have foreign citizenship or right of abode. And the HKSAR still does not have an adequate mechanism to fix this flaw.

Last but not least, the British government will launch on Jan 31 a new program that will make it easier for BN(O) passport holders to become British citizens. Meanwhile, the British government still allows those who have renounced their right of abode under the “British Nationality Selection Scheme” an additional chance to regain their right of abode. That means public officers holding BN(O) passports might be tempted to forgo their pledge of allegiance to the HKSAR; while pseudo-patriots who have forfeited their overseas right of abode to become senior government officials, executive councilors or legislative councilors can stay under the radar.

Faithfully implementing the principle of “one country, two systems”, “the people of Hong Kong ruling Hong Kong” and a high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong is an unprecedented undertaking that demands constant attention to correcting mistakes and overcoming hurdles on the go. As such, it was very difficult if not impossible to avoid the misstep of letting non-patriots into the governing establishment of the HKSAR when the city was barely beginning to integrate its own development into the overall development strategy of the country. Today, however, Hong Kong is well beyond the point of no return along this path, and only true patriots can be trusted with decision-making posts. It may be impossible to rid the establishment of all non-patriots in a heartbeat, but it has to be done sooner or later, beginning with building a consensus on the definition of and criteria for patriots.

The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.