weekly
Written by: Huang Yunna
2020-06-22 19:48
Date of last update: 2020-06-22 19:49There seems to be a "political time difference" between Hong Kong and the Central Government. Many governing parties have clearly announced a period of time. However, until the authorities started to speak and act, we were completely ignorant and criticized the other party for "betraying faith." There is little reflection on how "self-actualization" is caused. For example, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the end of last year, the Central Government had proposed "establishing and improving a legal system and enforcement mechanism for the maintenance of national security in the Special Administrative Region", but we shouted "annoying speculation" in the "Anti-Amendment Regulations". It is necessary to take the lead in legislating legislation for Hong Kong; for example, although the central government has emphasized "ruling Hong Kong according to law" since its reunification, and in the past decade it has strengthened the construction of "top-level design" and "bottom-line thinking" theoretical expositions, but we are confident that the rule of law is superior. Never take it seriously. The "National Security Act of the Minato District" will be passed as soon as possible on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the return to the beginning of next week. The work of the central government to "administer Hong Kong by law" will come one after another, and will we continue to "jet lag" and deceive ourselves?
("How to Understand the Central Government Governing Hong Kong by Law" Series 1bis)
The central government has emphasized "ruling Hong Kong according to law" from the beginning of the reunification. In the past ten years, it has further strengthened the construction of theoretical theories of "top-level design" and "bottom-line thinking." (Profile picture)
The central government governs Hong Kong in a two-pronged way,
both "United Front" and "According to the Law"
Hong Kong’s “rule of law” is famous all over the world. This has to be attributed to the introduction of the common law system from Britain by the colonial government 180 years ago, which helped us to establish clear and clear regulations, let us cultivate a culture of observance of the law, and convinced us of procedural justice. In the 1980s, when economic development and the rule of law in Hong Kong were relatively mature, the mainland that experienced the destruction of the "Cultural Revolution" was just moving towards "reform and opening up", and actively rebuilt and reformed the legal system to match the development of a socialist market economy. .
However, due to the influence of the traditional feudal system and the implementation of the one-party dictatorship in the Mainland, for a long time in the past, many party and government officials have had the stubborn thinking of "substituting the law with words" and "suppressing the law with power," leading to "rule of man." The color is strong, favoritism is still common, and judicial credibility has not yet been established. Therefore, in Hong Kong, which is only one river away and regards the level of the rule of law as high as people, from elites to people, it is inevitable that they will have a stereotypical stereotype about the concept of "rule of law" in the mainland. Many members of the public will criticize the authorities for "lagging behind the rule of law", in order to ridicule the other party for not being qualified to talk about "ruling Hong Kong according to law."
However, in fact, since the reunification in 1997, "ruling Hong Kong according to law" and "ruling Hong Kong with the United Front" are the two-pronged way of ruling Hong Kong, but in most of the time, taking into account the international background and history of Hong Kong's governance The reason for this is that the "United Front Governing Hong Kong" is more prominent than the "Governing Hong Kong by Law". However, after the "Occupy Central" movement in 2014, the central government has clearly transformed the "United Front Administration of Hong Kong" paradigm into "Governing Hong Kong by Law" and actively mobilized higher education institutions in Hong Kong and Macao to strengthen the "Government of Hong Kong by Law". The theoretical construction of "top-level design" and "bottom-line thinking" is a pity that Hong Kong people disagree.
Hong Kong's "rule of law" is famous all over the world. This has to be attributed to the introduction of the common law system from Britain by the colonial government 180 years ago. (Profile picture)
"United Front
Governing Hong Kong" has not achieved results, "Governing Hong Kong according to law" has risen in recent years
What is "ruling Hong Kong by united front" and what is "ruling Hong Kong by law"? According to the article "Coordination and Optimization of the United Front of Hong Kong and the Rule of Law" published in 2017 by the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association and Associate Professor of Law, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tian Feilong published in 2017. The late Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping initiated the "One Country, Two Systems" argument in the 1980s, and started the united front work with "Patriots ruling Hong Kong " as the core, hoping to gather the greatest consensus of "One Country, Two Systems" and promote the "Hong Kong opposition" to actively transform into "loyalty" The "opposition" , in order to strengthen the political power and representation of the "patriotic love of Hong Kong" camp, establish a governance alliance in support of "one country, two systems", and ensure that the governance power is in the hands of "patriots".
However, with the development of democratization in Hong Kong, the main means of "united front to govern Hong Kong" has been challenged for a long time-the so-called "patriotic love of Hong Kong" camp has performed unsatisfactorily, generally lacking awareness of the deep contradictions in Hong Kong. It can improve the ability of political discourse, but also failed to dominate the direction of public opinion, and even failed to reconstruct the United Front thinking based on Hong Kong’s democratic rule of law culture and economic and people’s livelihood issues, which not only made the right to speak distracted, but also failed to unite the “loyal opposition”, but let the “local” "Separatism" fermented wantonly.
"Governing Hong Kong by law" is an important part of the overall "ruling the country by law" project. (Profile picture)
"Governing Hong Kong according to law" is an important component of "ruling the country according to law"
As a result, the "United Front Administration of Hong Kong" continued to arouse strong dissatisfaction from the mainland leftists. Almost at the same time, Xi Jinping , who officially took over the general secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012, began to publish a discussion on "ruling the country according to law", and he continued to reiterate the importance of "ruling Hong Kong according to law" , emphasizing "guaranteeing the practice of one country, two systems according to law", " "Protect the interests of compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao according to law," indicating that "this is an important step taken by our country in advancing the modernization of the country's governance system and governance capabilities, and is of great significance for the comprehensive and accurate implementation of the one country, two systems policy and the Basic Law and the promotion of Hong Kong's long-term stability."
According to Qi Pengfei, vice president of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association and director of the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Research Center of Renmin University of China, published in "Bauhinia Magazine" in 2016, "Xi Jinping's New Concept and New Exposition of Governing Hong Kong by Law", the central government headed by Xi Jinping during those four years, At least 30 public discussions on the central government's "ruling the country by law" and "ruling Hong Kong according to law" have not only included the issue of Hong Kong in the consideration of the overall situation of national development, but also repeatedly emphasized that the central government has unshirkable and inalienable constitutional responsibility and decision-making power for Hong Kong's development. In the past few years, as we have seen, many mainland scholars have stepped up their legal theories on the Basic Law led by the Chinese Communist Party and made the central government’s management and supervision system in Hong Kong more straightforward.
The above-mentioned Tian Feilong's thesis puts forward that "ruling Hong Kong by law" is an important part of the overall "ruling the country by law" project . "It is both a rational requirement for the comprehensive legalization of the mainland and a practice of docking Hong Kong's rule of law society and reshaping the basic legal principles of Hong Kong. "The core content is that the central government directly manages Hong Kong affairs in accordance with the Basic Law and supports the SAR Government in accordance with the Basic Law, to ensure Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and a high degree of autonomy, and to protect the country's sovereignty, security and development interests."
The Central Committee will actively "exercise" the various powers granted by the Constitution and the Basic Law, including the interpretation of the law by the National People's Congress. (Profile picture)
Fanmin only understands emotional venting "the rule of law is dead
As for the specific operation of "ruling Hong Kong according to law", it is "to seek to transform the normative resources in the Basic Law into the specific legal principles and basis for governing Hong Kong according to the rule of law thinking and the way of rule of law. The Central Government has passed the interpretation of the Basic Law and the legal decision procedure and Hong Kong’s autonomy. Form a constitutional connection, constantly enrich and perfect the specific legal order of one country, two systems, and ensure the comprehensive and accurate implementation of the Basic Law"-in short, the central government actively "exercises" the various powers granted by the Constitution and the Basic Law , such as Use the "power of interpretation" to clarify the relationship between the "government power" and "authorization" of the central government in Hong Kong, and use the "supervision power" to spur the SAR government to be accountable to the central people's government, and use the "legislative power" to add Hong Kong to Hong Kong when necessary. National laws.
On the eve of the "occupy of China" in 2014, the State Council Information Office issued a white paper on "The Practice of "One Country, Two Systems" in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", which can be described as a key move from the "United Front to Hong Kong" to "Government by Law"; Under the mobilization of the elite, people seem to focus only on the most direct emotional venting to criticize the central government for "trampling the rule of law", and even wailing and lamenting that "the rule of law is dead", but did not seriously think about the logic and reasons for it, and did not let go of ideology. Prejudice to re-recognize the central government's concept and determination to practice "ruling Hong Kong according to law" ; so much that until today, they only scolded the "feeling of the rule of law" in the "feeling", but they could not say anything based on legal principles and The truth supported by the facts to refute.
However, apart from the stereotype that Hong Kong thinks that the "rule of law" in the Mainland is backward, the difference in understanding of "rule by law" between the two places is indeed inevitable. The most basic difference is that Hong Kong, which uses common law, believes that "rule of law" should reflect " "Restricting power with law", and the mainland that follows the socialist legal system, regards "rule of law" as a tool for governance. Further reading: Minato City National Security Law｜After legislation, what is the next step of "ruling Hong Kong according to law" (Part 2)
The above excerpt is from the 219th issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Report (June 22, 2020) "What is the next step in governing Hong Kong after the adoption of the National Security Law in the Minato City?" ".
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Hong Kong version of National Security Law anti-amendment demonstration demonstrates one country, two systems, Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong