An important message from 19th CPC National Congress

The exercise of "one country, two systems" is evidence of the great progress made in Hong Kong as well as in Macao. The two special administrative regions ought to celebrate the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. There is no better way to do this than by improving their implementation of "one country, two systems". A crucial part of maintaining "one country, two systems" is to carry out CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping's recent comments on this, particularly in four areas: Grasp the relationship between "one country" and "two systems" precisely; elevate the lawful administration of the Hong Kong and Macao SARs to the next level; focus firmly on socio-economic development; and work harder on enhancing a sense of belonging with the Chinese nation among local residents.

The opening of the 19th CPC National Congress on Wednesday marked an important milestone as the nation forges ahead in its great rejuvenation. It will set the course for the next five years and will very likely move further ahead in terms of national development. This will no doubt lead the way for Hong Kong and Macao to progress further under "one country, two systems".

In the five years since the 18th Party congress, Hong Kong has experienced more challenges than at any other time since China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over the city in July 1997. But Macao has done well in its "measured and diversified development" strategy. Thanks to timely and critical decisions by the central government authorities led by President Xi, both SAR governments were able to overcome a series of difficult problems. The exercise of "one country, two systems" did not lose its bearings or change course.

The key to keeping a steady course for "one country, two systems" lies in maintaining the true relationship between "one country" and "two systems". As Xi explained in his speech celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong SAR on July 1, "one country" is like the root and trunk of a tree and "two systems" is like the branches and leaves. That means "two systems" depends on "one country" in order to live and prosper. To ensure the effectiveness of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, the president said it is critical to prevent any attempt to harm the country's sovereignty, security and development. For the same reason no one can challenge the authority of the central government and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, or use Hong Kong as a conduit to infiltrate and sabotage the mainland. He also stressed that it is equally important to uphold the "one country" principle and respect the differences between "two systems". It is also vital to maintain the central government's overall jurisdiction and secure a high degree of autonomy for the HKSAR. It is crucial to let the mainland play its supportive role for Hong Kong as well as to enhance the city's competitiveness.

In terms of elevating the lawful administration of Hong Kong and Macao to the next level, Xi stressed that when implementing the national Constitution and Hong Kong's Basic Law, it is necessary to link the central government's authority with the SAR government's principal responsibility; to continuously improve systems related to the implementation of the Basic Law; and to boost efforts to educate Hong Kong residents about the Basic Law - particularly civil servants and young people. To enhance the lawful administration of the two SARs those three requirements must be met.

So far Hong Kong has done a decent job in fulfilling the first requirement but has more work to do in the other areas. For example, in handling the illegal "Occupy Central" movement in 2014, the SAR government, with strong support from the central government, successfully ended the illegal occupation of busy streets in accordance with existing laws.

When it comes to the second and third requirements, however, Hong Kong needs to step things up significantly. The most urgent has to be national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor stressed in her first Policy Address that it is the SAR government's constitutional obligation to make this happen. Hong Kong society should reach a consensus on this. It must then push for this to be fulfilled at an early date. Macao has already met all three requirements.

Focusing on development is not as easy as people may think. As far as Hong Kong is concerned the SAR government enjoys full support from the central government and the nation as well as public support in Hong Kong. There are so many opportunities Hong Kong can and should seize, be it the nation's development strategies such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster or international endeavors such as the Belt and Road Initiative. Hong Kong must keep itself very busy in the next 20 years to capitalize on these growth incentives.

Enhancing a public sense of belonging is a lifelong mission which needs to start as soon as possible. The SAR government needs to make all the necessary efforts to speed this process up.

The author is executive vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Association for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China and member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Municipal Committee.

(HK Edition 10/19/2017 page8)