Politics
Written by: Lin Jian
2020-04-02 07:00
Last updated: 2020-04-02 07:00In the eyes of traditional democrats, he is a veteran, and he is also known as the "father of democracy in Hong Kong"; in the eyes of institutionalists and Beijing officials, he is a "traitor" who "sings Hong Kong badly"; He was considered too conservative by the younger generation. On the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law, "Hong Kong 01" interviewed Li Zhuming, chairman of the Democratic Party and former drafting member of the Basic Law, to review the implementation of the Basic Law.
As the only democratic drafting committee in existence, Li Zhuming believes that one country, two systems is a commitment that is extremely difficult to implement in his own right. He used the swaying board as an example. The stronger party must take the initiative to accommodate the smaller party before the game can continue. However, he believes that in the past three decades, Beijing has only emphasized "one country" and not talked about "two systems", which is contrary to the original intention of establishing the "Basic Law" and criticized the return of Hong Kong to "no one country, two systems" in one second. The point is, he believes that the general election has been delayed and no one can play a balanced role.
Means that the Sino-British Joint Declaration is the basis of the country ’s “established guidelines and policies” for Hong Kong
Under the threat of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, 81-year-old Li Zhuming chose to receive a video interview at home. One of the roots of the political contradictions between China and Hong Kong in recent years lies in the one country, two systems under the framework of the "Basic Law", the democratic factions supported by more than half of the votes of local people, and Beijing have two completely different interpretations. Beijing believes that a country is the "root" and the "base", and the central government has full power over Hong Kong. Democrats believe that the two systems and the preservation of Hong Kong's original lifestyle are at the core of one country, two systems.
Li Zhuming mentioned that Article 159 of the Basic Law states that any amendment to the provisions of the Basic Law must not contradict the established basic policies and policies of Hong Kong by the People's Republic of China. This "established" policy is actually the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" "; Paragraph 3 of the" Statement "has set out a series of" basic guidelines and policies "for China, including" high autonomy "," Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong "," fifty years unchanged ", etc. The Basic Law appeared to implement the "established guidelines and policies" in the "Declaration," which was also agreed by Lu Ping, Deputy Secretary-General of the Drafting Committee at that time. Therefore, the Preamble of the Basic Law states that "the Chinese and British governments have signed a joint statement on the Hong Kong issue" before China can resume exercising sovereignty over Hong Kong.
For this reason, in recent years, the Chinese side has pointed out that the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" has become "invalid" or even a "historical document." He asked: "If the Sino-British Joint Declaration is invalid, does it mean that the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island will be returned to the British?"
In 2014, the Information Office of the State Council issued a white paper on "Practice of" One Country, Two Systems "in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", which states that "the central government has full power to govern the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region." Li Zhuming has contradictions in questioning the White Paper and the Basic Law, and there is also a conflict between "full governance" and "high autonomy": "there is only one government to be actually governed, either the central government or Hong Kong. It must be exercised in accordance with the Basic Law. "He pointed out that the provisions of the Basic Law have delegated administrative, legislative, judicial and final adjudication rights to Hong Kong. Except for national defense and foreign affairs, the rest are governed by the SAR.
[30 years of the Basic Law] An overview of the history of the Basic Law. When did the word "general election" appear?
"Universal elections are an integral part of one country, two systems"
In his past interviews with the media, Li Zhuming used the metaphor of "two fathers and sons playing rocking boards" as a metaphor for "one country, two systems." In an interview, he repeated the parable and picked up a ball pen to draw. "The strength of the two sides is so disparate. Of course, my father will have to accommodate. Sit back a little before the game will be balanced." However, the development of 23 years of return made Li Zhuming feel that one country and two systems have never been implemented for a second. The key point is that he is chief executive. Not by universal suffrage, there is no way to talk about "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong."
Li Zhuming said that although Article 43 of the Basic Law states that the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is responsible to the Central People's Government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in practice, the Chief Executive is not elected by the people, but by an electoral committee that is actually controlled by Beijing. The source is not Hong Kong people but the central government. Therefore, when the policy is implemented, the "father" rather than the "son" side will be inclined, so the rocking board will tilt. He even pointed out that when the current Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e had conflicts in interests between China and Hong Kong, he would bet on the Beijing side completely, forgetting that his role was to "balance" the two places. One example is the performance in dealing with the new crown pneumonia epidemic, including late Don't close it late. He questioned how Lin Zhengyue did it, depending on her own source of votes, "to give priority to the perception of the mainland people", and eventually delayed the early blocking of the epidemic.
Recalling the past 89 years of the CPPCC visit to Hong Kong deliberately adding the word "general election"
With regard to universal suffrage, Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law respectively state that the method of selecting the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council will be based on the actual situation in Hong Kong and the principle of gradual and orderly progress. Universal suffrage is the ultimate goal. This vision has not yet been achieved. Has become the cause of political contradictions in recent years. However, a review of the Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee member Li Haoran's "Overview of the Drafting Process of the Hong Kong Basic Law", the first draft of the Basic Law published in 1988, did not set out the ultimate goal of "general election", until the second published in February 1989. In the manuscript, the promise was written into the text in black and white.
Li Zhuming recalled that during the drafting period, some Hong Kong Drafting Committees reported to China many times that Hong Kong people very much hoped for democratic elections, so all Chinese Drafting Committees visited Hong Kong in January 1989 to learn about the situation and held several meetings within a week. "The last meeting was (one of the members of the Drafting Committee) Li Jiacheng banquet for everyone to have lunch at the top floor of the Hilton Hotel (currently the Yangtze River Group Center). The Chinese Drafting Committee met with members of the Basic Law Advisory Committee. Then one afternoon, the Drafting Committee attended the dinner party At that time, some Mainland drafting committees came eagerly to tell me that they had personally seen Hong Kong people's expectations of universal suffrage, and China agreed to go this way, so the second draft had the word "universal suffrage."
Li Zhuming likens to "one country, two systems" with "two fathers and sons playing rocking boards". Picking up a ballpoint pen in an exclusive interview said: "Of course, the strength of the two sides is so disparate. Of course, my father must accommodate and sit a little before the game will be balanced. (Video phone interview screenshot)
Li Pengfei joked: the chief executive everyone turns to live!
Li Zhuming pointed out that in addition to the two Democrats he and Situ Hua, as well as Hong Kong Drafting Committees such as Cha Liangzhang and Tan Yaozong, they also agreed at the time that universal suffrage should be implemented as soon as possible after the return of Hong Kong. "(The Chairman of the Liberal Party founder) Li Pengfei also joked with me. If the chief executive of the general election in 2007, I would be elected, and then if everyone finds that the Democrats can't control it, it will be Zeng Yucheng in 2012, and he will be in 2017 (Li Pengfei ) Win, everyone will do it in turn. "However, the June 4th incident in Beijing in the summer of the same year ended with the road to democratization in China. Li Zhuming and Situ Hua resigned from the draft committee, and the local political circle split into two camps, democracy and pro-China camp. Democrats The door to communication with Beijing has since been almost completely cut off.
The Standing Committee of the National People ’s Congress decided in 8.31 in 2014 that it required half of the nominations of the nominee committee for the chief executive candidate to start. Only two or three candidates could be selected. Li Zhuming believed that this was equivalent to direct control of the candidate by the central government and was not acceptable. If the second best is to be nominated by the Legislative Council and 20 votes will go out, he feels that there is still a little room for discussion. Li Zhuming laments that it is difficult to promote political reform in the current political situation, but he thinks that Lin Zhengyue was not able to do so when asked about the political reform. The statement is incorrect because the first part of the "Five Steps in Political Reform" The song was submitted by the Chief Executive to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The "right to serve" has always been on the Chief Executive.
Responding to Natives: One Country, Two Systems Is No Choice
Since the reunification, Li Zhuming has repeatedly stated that Beijing should implement the "original" one country, two systems, and even more so that former Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping is still alive and would not be happy to see the current situation. However, in recent years, local opinions have risen. Some commentators have questioned that the original design of one country, two systems is not intended to lead Hong Kong to democracy, but to assimilate Hong Kong and the mainland of China. Therefore, it is meaningless to ask Beijing to "implement the original one country, two systems".
Li Zhuming did not answer in detail during his visit. He later took the initiative to contact reporters in the hope of learning more reasons. The reporter explained that some natives believe that the "one country, two systems" failure is "destined" because the "great unification" thinking of traditional Chinese politics will not allow the country to have two political systems; once Hong Kong is democratized, it will be regarded as a threat to the Chinese Communist Party in the Mainland. Governance. Therefore, the locals believe that when Deng Xiaoping designed one country, two systems, the real original intention may not necessarily be to promote democracy in Hong Kong, but an expedient measure to allow Hong Kong people to accept the return. When China's national strength is strong enough to compete with European and American democracies, it will slowly tighten the two systems. The differences that have caused Hong Kong to go to the Mainland are actually in the same vein as today's official emphasis on "full governance".
Li Zhuming thought for a few seconds and responded, "Maybe they (the natives) are right." He believes that Deng Xiaoping is no longer in the world, and it is difficult to verify Deng's motives at present, but from the results, it can be regarded as a reasonable one. Speculation. However, Li mentioned a realistic problem: "At that time, China and Britain had reached a consensus that China wanted to take back Hong Kong, Britain did not want Hong Kong, and Hong Kong had no conditions for independence. Deng Xiaoping proposed that one country, two systems, even if we did not believe in Beijing, but what alternatives are there? Of course It requires Beijing to do a better job and to act in accordance with the "Sino-British Joint Declaration" and the "Basic Law." He believes that although one country, two systems is extremely difficult, it is not impossible at all, and there were no other options at the time.
The chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the former chairman of the Legislative Council, Zeng Yucheng, recently mentioned in an interview with "Hong Kong 01" that the "Basic Law" 30 years ago failed to meet the political situation in Hong Kong today. Re-consult and modify. In this regard, Li Zhuming believes that Zeng Yucheng's starting point may also be for Hong Kong, but he does not need to amend the law, as long as Beijing follows the set promised when drafting the Basic Law, it is quite enough.
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[30 years of the Basic Law] It's time to amend the Basic Law (Part 1)-Endless legal conflicts
[30 years of the Basic Law] Lin Zhengyue: Article 23 has not yet been legislated, but regrets that they are now focusing their efforts on epidemic prevention
During the anti-revision case last year, Li Zhuming repeatedly appeared to criticize the Hong Kong government's approach. As a senior barrister, he stated at a rally that a fair trial is the spirit of the rule of law. If the government says that multiple people break the law, it is a violation of the rule of law. (Photo by Liang Pengwei)
"First of all, I oppose Hong Kong independence, but ..."
Based on the above disappointment of one country, two systems, some younger generations have fundamentally questioned the existence value of one country, two systems, and some have put forward more fierce claims for Hong Kong independence, touching Beijing's political red line.
Li Zhuming said that in the past pro-China factions often called him a "Hong Kong independence element", but he was quite sure that he had never proposed Hong Kong independence, and also explicitly opposed Hong Kong independence, and advocated a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue. However, he said he understands the ideas of the younger generation quite well.
"If I am 18 years old this year, I will go for it."
"I know what young people think of us today. They will ask" Li Zhuming, why were you so stupid that you supported the China-British Joint Declaration and supported one country, two systems, and did not propose independence? They think so. "Li Zhuming said, young One generation has witnessed one country, two systems, and it has not worked for many years: "How can you blame those young people? If I am not 81 years old, but 18 years old, I will also rush. I still oppose Hong Kong independence to this day, but you can What are the reasons for persuading them not to support Hong Kong independence? "
"I don't mind being accused of being a traitor"
Speaking of the younger generation, last year ’s anti-amendment movement, the term “international line” was derived among young Internet users, which meant that foreign countries talked about Hong Kong ’s human rights and democracy and caused international attention. ; Huang Zhifeng, the Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Philosophers, has also revealed that his involvement in the "international" is also due to a considerable degree of Li Zhuming's invitation. However, the formationists and the government have always criticized this move as "singing Hong Kong", and Li Zhuming has been regarded as a "traitor" by pro-China groups for many years.
Li Zhuming said that he has been accused of participating in the democratic movement for many years. He said he was ashamed of what he thought was good for China and Hong Kong, and said with a smile: "The traitor is already the most ugly word. Even I accept it. I believe there is no other insult. I accept it. Here. "
Believe that the Democratic Legislative Council will not be in trouble after 35+
The practice of the Basic Law is about the current situation in Hong Kong, and the development of the situation depends to a large extent on the strength of the two sides. The topic has shifted to the Legislative Council elections in September this year. Democrats are preparing to attack functional constituencies, gaining more than 35 seats in the Legislative Council, vetoing government bills or even creating a constitutional crisis. The bombardment of democratic factions by more than half of the establishment factions would undermine the governance of the SAR and even cause Hong Kong to "fire." Luo Huining, director of the China Liaison Office, described the move as "stealing governance."
Li Zhuming took the 1995 Legislative Council election as an example. At that time, the Democrats won 31 seats in the 60 seats. Many people were concerned whether the Democrats would "do something", but in the end they did not say: "When you are a minority, you can say anything ; When you have a majority, you must be careful at each step. "Li Zhuming emphasized that he will do everything he can to help Democrats get more than half of the seats, but I believe that Democrats" will not mess up "after half of the Legislative Council. Most citizens want to act.
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