2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

News> Hong Kong> Content
Monday, June 14, 2021, 17:15
'One country, two systems' guarantee for SAR’s prosperity
By Li Bingcun, Chen Zimo and Chen Shuman
Monday, June 14, 2021, 17:15 By Li Bingcun, Chen Zimo and Chen Shuman

Political leaders and scholars deliberate the future of “one country, two systems” and the role that the Communist Party of China plays in implementing the principle in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the forum on June 12, 2021. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong's political heavyweights have hailed "one country, two systems" as a policy that will safeguard the city's long-term prosperity.

They made the remarks at a high-level forum on the relationship between the Communist Party of China and "one country, two systems" held in Hong Kong on Saturday. The event drew more than 650 prominent people from a wide sector of the community and featured a panel discussion among local political leaders.

Former justice secretary Elsie Leung Oi-sie said "one country, two systems" fully conforms to the actual situation in the special administrative region, as it ensures the city's long-term prosperity after its return to the motherland in 1997, while protecting national sovereignty.

Brave Chan Yung, a deputy to the National People's Congress, the nation's top legislature, said the country's prosperity offers the strongest backing for implementing "one country, two systems".

With the central government's full support, the SAR has the greatest confidence in giving full play to its strengths, he said.

The seminar was organized by four central government institutions in the SAR to mark the centennial anniversary of the founding of the CPC, which falls on July 1

ALSO READ: Luo: 'One country, two systems' huge contribution to mankind

Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of a local think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said the "one country, two systems" model strikes a balance between the central government's comprehensive jurisdiction over the SAR and the high degree of autonomy the city enjoys under the Basic Law.

The seminar was organized by four central government institutions in the SAR to mark the centennial anniversary of the founding of the CPC, which falls on July 1.

Deeper understanding

Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said the Party has offered unswerving support for the SAR in overcoming various difficulties. Celebrations marking the Party's founding will help Hong Kong people better understand what the Party has done for Hong Kong, which is quite meaningful, he told China Daily after the event.

Legislator Vincent Cheng Wing-shun said most Hong Kong people still lack adequate understanding of the country and the Party. But he believes that implementing the National Security Law for Hong Kong, as well as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will give Hong Kong residents deeper experience of the Party's leadership over Hong Kong and its significance to the city.

READ MORE: HK holds high-level seminar on CPC, 'one country, two systems'

Executive Councilor and Senior Counsel Ronny Tong Ka-wah said that without the CPC, there would not have been a New China, nor would there be Hong Kong's reunification with the motherland and "one country, two systems". He told China Daily the central government respects "one country, two systems" and wants to make it truly work.

He cited the National Security Law for Hong Kong that's tailor-made for the SAR, with provisions that go a step further than the security legislation on the Chinese mainland to protect civic rights, such as commitments to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and explicit criminal procedures.

For "one country, two systems" to achieve long-term success, Tong called for Hong Kong to be wholeheartedly integrated into the nation's development. "We must integrate into the constitutional order that governs the very existence of Hong Kong," he said.


Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !