TOPIC 2: SOVEREIGNY,

AUTHORITY AND POWER

 The Basic Law of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative region of the
People’s Republic of China is the supreme
law in the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region and a national law
of the People’s Republic of China.
Comprising nine chapters, 160 articles and
three annexes, the Basic Law was adopted
on 4 April 1990 by the Seventh National
People’s Congress and signed by President
Yang Shangkun.
The Basic Law came into effect on 1 July 1997 in Hong Kong when the
sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom
to the People’s Republic of China, replacing Hong Kong’s colonial
constitution of the Letters Patent and the Royal Instructions.

The Basic Law was drafted on the basis

of the Sino-British Joint Declaration
signed between the Chinese and British
government on 19 December 1984,
represented by Premier Zhao Ziyang
and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
respectively.
 The Basic Law stipulates the basic policies
of China regarding the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region. As stipulated in the Joint
Declaration and following the “one country, two
system” principle, socialism practiced in mainland
China would not be extended to Hong Kong.
Instead, Hong Kong would continue its capitalist
system and way of life for 50 years after 1997.
 Institution

Legislative Council
The legislative council is the
law-making body of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region. It
comprises 70 members, with 35
elected directly by geographical
constituencies and 35 elected by
functional constituencies (including
five elected by the District Council
(second) function constituency).
 Apart from its law-making function, the Legislative Council
debates issues of the public interest, examines and approves
budgets, receives and debates the Chief Executive’s policy
addresses, and endorses the appointment and the removal of the
judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the
High Court.
 Under the Basic Law , the Legislative
Council is the Legislative of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region. The main function
of the Legislative Council include enacting laws,
approving public expenditure and monitoring the
work of the Government. The power and functions
of the Legislative Council are specified in article
73 of the Basic Law.
Power and Functions of the Legislative Council
As provided for in article 73 of the Basic Law, the legislative
Council exercise the following powers and functions:

(1)To enact, amend or repeal laws in accordance with the provisions of

the Basic Law and legal procedures;
(2)To examine and approve budgets introduced by the Government;
(3)To approve taxation and public expenditure;
(4)To receive and debate the policy addresses of the Chief Executive;
(5) To raise questions on the work of the Government;
(6) To debate any issue concerning public interest;
(7) To endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of
Final Appeal and the Chief judge of the High Court;
(8) To receive and handle complaints from Hong Kong residents;
 (9) To report a motion of impeachment passed
against the Chief Executive to the Central People’s
Government. If a motion initiated jointly by one-
fourth of all Legislative Council Members charges
the Chief Executive with the serious breach of law
or dereliction of duty and if he or she refuses to
resign, the Legislative Council may, after passing a
motion for investigation, give a mandate to the Chief Justice of the Court
of Final Appeal to form and chair an independent investigation committee.
The committee shall be responsible for carrying out the investigation and
reporting its findings to the Legislative Council. If the committee
considers the evidence sufficient to substantiate such charges,
the Legislative Council may pass a motion of
impeachment by a two-thirds of all its Members
and report it to the Central People’s Government for
decision; and

(10) To summon, as required

when execising the above-
mentioned powers and functions,
persons concerned to testify of
give evidence.
 The Judiciary
The Basic Law For the most
ensures the Hong serious types of the
Kong remains within criminal offences, a
the common law jury decides whether
system. The judiciary the accuse is guilty or
is independent from not, with a majority
the legislative and vote required. The
executive branches of Court of Final Appeal is
the government, with the highest appellate
the courts showing court and is headed by
no bias. the Chief Justice.
 The Hong Kong Basic Law The courts of Hong Kong are given
sets out the source of law, the the power to review acts of the
relationship between Hong Kong executive or legislature and declare
SAR and the Central them invalid if they are
Government, the fundamental inconsistent with the Basic Law.
rights and freedoms of Hong
Kong residents, and the structure
and functions of the branches of
local government, and it provides
for the amendment and
interpretation of the Basic Law.
 Democracy of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is largely free
to manage its own affairs based
on “one country, two system,” a
national unification policy
developed by Deng Xiaoping in
the 1980s. The concept was
intended to facilitate the After more than a century and a half of
reintegration of Taiwan, Hong colonial rule, the British government
Kong, and Macao with returned Hong Kong in 1997. (Qing
sovereign China while Dynasty leader ceded Hong Kong Island
preserving their unique political to the British Crown in 1824 after
and economic system. China’s defeat in the First Opium War.)
 The Sino-British Declaration 1984
dictated the terms under which Hong Kong was
returned to China. The declaration and Hong
Kong’s Basic Law, the city’s constitutional
document, safeguard the city’s “capitalist
system and the way of life” and grant it “a high
degree of autonomy,” including executive,
legislative, and independent judicial powers for
fifty years (until 2047).
Chinese Communist Party officials do not preside over Hong Kong as they
do over mainland provinces and municipalities, but Beijing still exerts
considerable influence through loyalist who dominate the region’s political
sphere. Beijing also maintains the authority of interpret Hong Kong’s
Basic Law.
 Nationalism of Hong Kong

Since Hong Kong has never been a sovereign entity, historically,

nationalism is not particularly prominent in the city. During colonial rule,
Hongkongers generally did not express nationalistic sentiments towards
Britain and China; in fact, they generally do not feel patriotic towards any
country. However, after the handover, there have been multiple successive
attempts that showcase Hongkongese nationalism, namely, Hong Kong’s
outcry for democracy during the 2014 Umbrella Revolution. In September
2014, thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in the city centre
waiting for their voices to be heard and pleading with Beijing to fulfill its
promise of universal suffrage in 2017.
But the Hong Kong government’s response the protesters was seen as a
betrayal, as the police attempted to disperse them with teargas and pepper
spray. During the protest on the streets of Causeway Bay, there were
graffiti designs saying, “build a Hong Kong state” and “Hong Kong must
be independent.” Signs of nationalism began to spark and prevail. When
Beijing rejected the proposals, many Hongkongers,
especially young students, began to distinguish
themselves from Mainland China by producing
big posters with messages such as “Hong
Kong is not part of China.” The central
government’s rejection of a proposed extended
electoral college has in effect sparked the first
sentiments of genuine Hong Kong nationalism.
 Regimes of Hong Kong
Authoritarian Regime
The Chinese Communist Regime promotes a very
thin conception of the rule of law in Hong Kong as the
official understanding of the rule of law. Maintaining
social order is presented to be the overriding function of
law even at the costs of granting arbitrary powers to
government officials and restricting fundamental rights
of citizens disproportionately. This narrow understanding
of the rule of law is being used to legitimize the use of
law to disqualify legislators and candidates in the
opposition, to generate a chilling effect in the society, to
weaken political groups in Hong Kong and to introduce
measures that will hurt the autonomy of Hong Kong.
Totalitarian
Beijing is continuing to come down hard
on Hong Kong’s freewheeling 7.5 million
citizens with the expulsion on Oct. 5 of
Financial Times Asia News Editor Victor
Mallet, the outlawing of a pro-independence
political party, disbarring of elected opposition
lawmakers from the Legislative Council for
faulty oath-taking, and denial of a former
student leader to contest a by-election. All
levels of executive power are being utilized to
block opposition voices. The judiciary is
roundly criticized for being too lenient and not
sufficiently playing the role of enforcers.
a free press, the rule of law and the
uninhibited ways of thinking along with
failing to recognize the omnipotence of
the Communist Party of China. Hong
Kong was a colonial outpost ruled by
governors until 1997. Its ingratitude
puzzles the party faithful.
Much of China’s
suspicions of Hong Kong are
due to a view of the former
British colony as particularly
afflicted by “Western” ideas of
individual rights, freedom of
expression,
 Legitimacy of Hong Kong
Rational-legal Legitimacy
Since the political handover which were narrowly defined as
on 1997, the government of the maintaining good order, economic
Hong Kong SAR has encountered prosperity, and administrative
repeated challenges to its efficiency. These observed that
governance and political not until the 1990s were such
legitimacy. Previous studies on performance legitimacy
the question of political foundations broadened to include
legitimacy in Hong Kong found maintaining rule of law, the
that the colonial government delivery of effective public
rested its legitimacy mainly on policies, the protection of basic
performance foundations, liberties, and the provision of
social services and welfare.
 Popular conceptions of political legitimacy in Hong Kong have
always been mixed and beyond the narrowly defined performance
foundation. In fact, recent development in Hong Kong, most notably, the
renowned “Umbrella Movement” in the fall of 2014, which has involved
of tens and thousands young pro-democracy protestors, and other previous
public actions, such as the Anti-National Education Protest in 2012, the
siege at the Legislative Council building protesting the Guangzhou-
Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail in 2010, and the July 1 rally of half a
million people against the national security bill in 2003, have provided
further counter evidence against these early analyses.
 Despite Hong Kong’s economic stability and growth over the
decades, except for the few years during the Asian financial crisis, the
social movements, especially those organized by the younger
generations, have prompted further reflection on the definition of a
legitimate governance for the citizens of Hong Kong. This is an
understanding that goes beyond performance standards and includes
universal values such as a democratic government, equality, and the
policy fairness.
 Political Culture of Hong Kong

Consensual Political Culture

Starting in the 1970s, the former British colony saw the development
of its own political culture, focused on the defense on basic human right.
This underwent continual development throughout 1980s, and the Beijing
authorities certainly made their own contributions by setting up the Basic
Law Drafting Committee and the Basic Law Consultative Committee, to
which, for the first time, representatives from the various active sectors of
the colony’s population were invited to express their opinion on the
Territory’s future. To which, for the first time, representatives from the
various active sectors of the colony’s population were invited to express
their opinion on the Territory’s future.
 Political Ideology of Hong Kong

Liberalism
Liberalism has a long tradition in Hong Kong as an economic
philosophy and has become a major political trend since the 1980s, often
represented the pro-democracy camp, apart from conservatism which often
constitutes the pro-Beijing camp.
Communism
The Indigenous Communists in
Hong Kong are mainly remnants of
the trade unionists who flourished in
the 1960s and the united front officials
operated by the Communist Party of
China in Hong Kong.
 They were once considered progressives and
leftists; but as the consensus of Hong Kong
politics moved, they appear to be ideologically
conservative compared to the mainstream of
Hong Kong. During the administrative of Hong
Kong Government Chris Patten, the indigenous
pro-communist parties suffered from his
electoral reforms in 1995.

After the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997,

the new HKSAR government changed the electoral system to Party-list
proportional representation, in order to make the pro-communist parties to
have safe seats in the geographical constituency, and prevent the Pan-
democracy camp to have a Supermajority in the geographical constituency.
Socialism
Socialism in Hong Kong is a political trend taking
root from Marxism imported to Hong Kong and
mainland China in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
Socialist trends have taken various forms, including
communism, Trotskyism and democratic socialism, with
the communists being the most dominant faction due to
the influence of the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Mainland regime.