The 2020 Policy Address, which was postponed earlier, was finally released on Wednesday, and outsiders are already questioning the real reason for the postponement, which is that the Hong Kong government has to consult Beijing on the contents of the report in order to make it fully consistent with Beijing’s policies. The report shows that its tone and measures are generally in line with those of the mainland. In addition, Mrs. Lam spoke of her “dual-headed” function, with broad powers, and the fact that the SAR follows a dominant administrative system with the chief executive at its core, directly accountable to the Central People’s Government. Lawyers criticized Mrs. Lam’s words as wishful thinking and “illegal construction interpretation,” speculating that they implied that she was overriding the judiciary and the legislature. Scholars, on the other hand, say that she wanted to show loyalty to the central government.
Earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor went to the mainland to advocate for preferential policies for Hong Kong, but finally postponed to Wednesday (25) to the Legislative Council to deliver her fourth Policy Address. This time, the cover of the Policy Address is again in sky blue, and Mrs. Lam said she hopes to bring more hope to Hong Kong.
Legislative amendment controversy mentioned at the beginning of the report
In preparing this year’s Policy Address, Mrs. Lam said she was “deeply impressed by how much work lies ahead of us. The report begins with a reference to the anti-sending incidents of the past year. She said that Hong Kong has experienced unprecedented levels of social unrest due to the “legislative amendment controversy,” a shrinking economy and rising unemployment due to the neo-crowning pneumonia epidemic, and “acts against national security” due to interventions by foreign powers. “seriously undermines the social stability and economic development of the Special Administrative Region”. She said that the primary objective of the Policy Address is to help Hong Kong get out of its predicament as soon as possible and restore public confidence.
Throughout the report, the Policy Address strives to “maintain a high degree of consistency” with the Central Government.
The report is prefaced with “Toughing on the Way Ahead” and chapter 3 is titled “Never Forget the Beginning”. The slogan “Never forget the original heart and forge ahead” has been the slogan of Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in recent years. In the course of reading the Policy Address, Mrs. Lam emphasized from time to time the full support of the Central Government, and praised the mainland for its “rapid economic rebound under strict epidemic control efforts”. The tone was questioned whether it was necessary to “maintain a high degree of consistency” with the central government.
The Central Government’s consistent support for Hong Kong under “one country, two systems” can inject new impetus into Hong Kong’s economic development, and Hong Kong can continue to play its role as the country’s need and Hong Kong’s strength, actively participating in the domestic and international double cycle and better integrating into the national development situation.
Mr. Lam Cheng claims to have the function of a “dual head” with extensive powers.
In addition, this year’s Policy Address has a separate chapter and about 20 pages on “One Country, Two Systems”, in which the mission of the Chief Executive is mentioned. Mrs. Lam said that the Basic Law has given the Chief Executive the function of “dual head”, saying that the Chief Executive of the HKSAR “is both the head of the executive authorities of the Special Administrative Region and the head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” and “represents the whole of China”. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”. She also said that the society “does not have deep knowledge” of the Constitution and the Basic Law. One of the urgent tasks at hand is to “put the constitutional order and political system of the HKSAR back in order,” she said.
Mrs. Lam said that the Chief Executive has broad powers, not only to lead the executive branch, but also to have a special role and function in the exercise of their powers by the legislature and the judiciary in Hong Kong, demonstrating that the HKSAR follows a dominant executive system with the Chief Executive as the core, directly accountable to the Central People’s Government.
In the past, the term “dual-heads” appeared in a white paper issued by the Information Office of the State Council in 2014.
At that time, the text only stated that “as the ‘dual head’ of the SAR and the SAR Government, the Chief Executive is the first person responsible for the implementation of the policy of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and the Basic Law in Hong Kong”. The Chief Executive is the “dual head” of the SAR and the SAR government. Later, in September this year, after Secretary for Education George Yeoh mentioned that there is no “separation of powers” in Hong Kong, Secretary for Justice John Cheng said that the Chief Executive is the “dual head” of the SAR and the SAR government.
Senior Barrister Alan Leong: There is no such arrangement in the Basic Law.
In an interview with this station, Civic Party Chairman and senior barrister Alan Leong emphasized that there is no such arrangement in the Basic Law, and criticized Mrs. Lam for her “wishful thinking and self-serving interpretation of the illegal structure. He questioned whether Mrs. Lam was trying to override the judiciary and the legislature and deviate from the Basic Law.
If you’re really talking about the chief executive, then it’s the chief executive,” Mr. Leong said. But what is the head of the whole of Hong Kong? Does it override (Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal) Ma Daoli and (Legislative Council President) Kwan-Yin Leung? The Basic Law is very clear, there are 3 chapters for the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, there will be no subordination. If she (Carrie Lam) purposely said it separately, I guess it means that there is an overriding implication that the Legislative Council and the Judiciary are subordinate to her, because she is the head of the whole Hong Kong. I think this is a deviation from the arrangement of the Basic Law.
He also said that the Policy Address was suddenly postponed this year, and he believed that the report was written by the Chinese Communist Party and was a political manifesto, a stability report.
Professor Success: Lam Cheng wants to pledge allegiance to the Central Government
Cheng Ming, an associate professor at the University of Science and Technology’s Department of Social Sciences, explained to Taiwan that the term “dual-heads” implies that the Chief Executive, as head of the Hong Kong government, is accountable to the people of Hong Kong, while at the same time, as head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, he is also accountable to the Central Government. In her policy address, Mrs. Lam emphasized the function of “dual heads” to pledge allegiance to the central government on the one hand, and to prepare Hong Kong people psychologically on the other. “The Chief Executive’s position is a good example of whether or not one country, two systems can really be implemented.
Sing Ming also mentioned that when there is a conflict of interest between the central government and Hong Kong people, the Chief Executive’s stance is a good indication of whether or not One Country, Two Systems can really be implemented.
Compared to previous policy addresses, this one spends a lot of space explaining and reiterating concepts such as “one country, two systems” and judicial independence, and Narada estimates that the rule of law emphasized by the Hong Kong government in the report is not the rule of law that protects human rights and freedoms as commonly understood by Hong Kong people, but the rule by law spirit of mainland China, which “must be obeyed even if the law violates human rights”.
Cheng Ming said: Although I haven’t read it very carefully, I doubt that she is spending so much space (to explain the concept of one country, two systems, judicial independence, etc.) to try to steal the dragon’s flesh and emphasize the mainland’s rule of law to be transferred to Hong Kong. In fact, the ‘rule of law’ that the SAR government has been talking about for the past few months, and even for the past year or two, has always been about the rule of law in the Mainland, and it may be necessary to reiterate this point today.
Educating the youth on the correct concept of the rule of law becomes a priority
In addition to her remarks about “dual leadership”, Mrs. Lam also continued her work on the administration of justice. She said that to promote a proper understanding and practice of the rule of law in Hong Kong, the Department of Justice (DoJ) is committed to implementing the 10-year plan “Vision 2030 – Rule of Law in Focus” by working with various stakeholders to launch more focused public education activities, including educating young people on the rule of law. The right concept of the rule of law.
In addition, the report mentions that the police will deal with repentant offenders under the age of 18 by way of superintendent’s cautions and conduct, as appropriate, but only if they are repentant.
For the first time on the day the Policy Address was announced, the opposition voices were isolated from the Legislative Council.
After the general resignation of the democratic legislators, the only non-establishment voices left in the Legislature were those of Chung-Tai Cheng and Pui-Yin Chen from the medical sector; there were no more demonstrations outside the Chamber before the reading of the report.
No more demonstrations outside the Council Chamber before the reading of the report. All opposing voices were isolated from the Legislative Council. The Social Democratic Link, as usual, protested outside the CPPCC before the reading of the Policy Address.
Slogan: Vote against the Greater Bay Area! Implement double universal suffrage! Repeal the National Security Act! Release all political prisoners!
LSD’s Liang Guoxiong said that most of the pro-democracy legislators are no longer in the legislature due to the government’s crackdown, lamenting that Hong Kong has entered an “era of silence”. He continued to point out that the epidemic situation is serious, and we should fight the epidemic first, and help the unemployed instead of pushing the “Lantau Island of Tomorrow” which is worth more than a trillion dollars. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of “Lantau Island of Tomorrow”, the allocation of 30 billion to set up unemployment benefits and the abandonment of the Greater Bay Area voting plan.
Recent Comments