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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
Question:
According to Articles 16 and 22 of the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) shall, on its own, conduct the administrative affairs of SAR in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law, and no department of the Central People's Government and the like may interfere in the affairs which SAR administers on its own in accordance with the Basic Law. However, it was reported that some officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in SAR had approached some Members of this Council in November last year regarding the vetting and approval of domestic free television programme service licence applications. In addition, on the 22nd of last month, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council (HKMAO) issued a statement relating to some Members of this Council "interrupting the speech of and throwing objects at" the Chief Executive (CE) while he was attending the CE's Question and Answer (Q&A) Session held on that day. In the statement, HKMAO stated that "…we oppose any behaviour that abuses the Rules of Procedure, and disrupts the SAR Government's policy implementation in accordance with the law…". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether, before the aforesaid Q&A Session, any member of the SAR Government had discussed with the officials of the Central Authorities on any matter relating to the Q&A Session and formulated counter-measures (e.g. preparing a relevant statement in advance or planning to stage a walkout en masse by the officials); whether HKMAO had issued the aforesaid statement at the request of the SAR Government;
(2) whether it has studied the scope of "the affairs which" SAR "administers on its own" as provided in Article 22 of the Basic Law; whether there is any mechanism in place at present to prevent CE and the officials of various bureaux from inviting, for certain reasons (e.g. to take advance of the authority of or to pander to the wish of the Central Authorities), the Central Authorities to interfere in the affairs which SAR administers on its own; and
(3) whether it has assessed if HKMAO has contravened the Basic Law (including the policy of "One Country, Two Systems" and the principles of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "a high degree of autonomy" being implemented in Hong Kong) by issuing the aforesaid statement; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether it will express dissatisfaction to the Central Authorities; whether it has assessed if such an act of HKMAO has caused the people of Hong Kong to be concerned about the Central Authorities violating the aforesaid policy?
Reply:
President,
Regarding the Member's question, after consulting the Office of Chief Executive and relevant departments, the Administration's consolidated reply is as follows:
According to Article 12 of the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) shall be a local administrative region of the People's Republic of China, which shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy and come directly under the Central People's Government. According to Article 2 of the Basic Law, the National People's Congress authorises the HKSAR to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication, in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law. According to Article 16 of the Basic Law, the HKSAR shall be vested with executive power. It shall, on its own, conduct the administrative affairs of the HKSAR in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law.
Since the establishment of the HKSAR, the Central Government has been acting in strict accordance with the fundamental principles and policies of "One Country, Two Systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy, as well as the provisions of the Basic Law to support the Chief Executive (CE) and the HKSAR Government in administering Hong Kong in accordance with law. When the Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang met the CE of the HKSAR on December 17, 2013 during the latter's visit to Beijing to report on the work of HKSAR, Premier Li reiterated the above stance and support of the Central Government towards the HKSAR.
At the same time, according to the provisions of the Basic Law, such as those in Chapter II on "Relationship between the Central Authorities and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", the Central Government has the power or responsibility in respect of certain Hong Kong affairs.
The Central Government has established the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council as an administrative office of the State Council to handle Hong Kong and Macao affairs, and is responsible for implementing the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and related directives of the Central Government, as well as communicating with the HKSAR Government. Since the reunification, the Central Government and its departments, the offices set up by the Central People's Government in the HKSAR and the HKSAR Government are all along required to adhere strictly to the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and provisions of the Basic Law, and abide by their own areas of responsibility in accordance with law.
Similarly, the HKSAR Government has also been administering the affairs of Hong Kong, including the issues in question, in strict accordance with the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and the Basic Law.
The Member's question mentioned the CE's Question and Answer session in the Legislative Council (LegCo). I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate the Government's stance. The HKSAR Government respects the LegCo and attaches importance to our working relationship with the LegCo. However, a few LegCo Members have for years been using vulgar and abusive language targeted at government officials attending LegCo meetings and even threw objects at them within a close distance, showing no respect at all for the LegCo and the officials concerned and causing disruption to the conduct of the meetings. The HKSAR Government takes a serious view on the unruly behaviours of these Members. Any further tolerance will not only compromise the solemn status of the LegCo, but also tarnish Hong Kong's international image and seriously disrupt the orderly conduct of LegCo businesses, and even damage the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature and resulting in failure to live up to the public's expectations towards the LegCo.
Not only do we strive for a LegCo with democracy, we also call for a LegCo guided by civilised values. The HKSAR Government appeals to the LegCo to take action against the behaviour of the concerned Members and restore the normal operation of LegCo to preserve the dignity of the LegCo and government officials.
Ends/Wednesday, June 18, 2014
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