If the “One Country” part of the One Country Two Systems policy continues to be challenged, the Chinese government will begin to consider measures of national security, former LegCo president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing has said.
When addressing the audience at a forum on Hong Kong’s political future, he said that “anything that challenges One Country would very likely damage Two Systems as well.” He acknowledged that, vice versa, those who disregard the Two Systems would also create a crisis in confidence in the One Country policy.
Tsang said that Hong Kong’s political development over the years has panned out in ways that the Central People’s government might consider threatening to the nation’s sovereignty and safety. Defence of the nation’s sovereignty, safety, and developmental interests have therefore preceded the maintenance of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, Tsang said.
‘Incitement to commit secession’
Alan Hoo Hon-ching, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, wrote on Monday in a column in the Hong Kong Economic Journal that the National People’s Congress may announce the application of Article 103 of the Chinese Criminal Codes in Hong Kong within a year. The article concerns incitement to commit secession. It may be applied through Annex III of the Basic Law, he wrote.
Article 18 of the Basic Law states: “National laws shall not be applied in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region except for those listed in Annex III to [the Basic Law].”
Hoo added that the actions of Sixtus Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching of Youngspiration during the oath taking ceremony “made legislating for Article 23 one step closer to reality.”
