Central gov't HK policy unchanged

June 9, 2020

Chief Executive Carrie Lam:

I can say very categorically that there is absolutely no change in the policy of the central authorities towards the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region because that policy is enshrined through the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR and repeatedly stressed by the leaders, and that is the successful, comprehensive and accurate implementation of “one country, two systems”.

And national security should be very much a core part of that comprehensive and accurate implementation of “one country, two systems” because every country needs national security in order to safeguard the interests of the country. So there is no deviation or shift in the policy. If there is any deviation or breach, that is our quote unquote incapacity or inefficiency in enacting local legislation on our own to safeguard national security. 

So after 23 years when that arrangement was being put in place through Article 23 of the Basic Law, but the Hong Kong SAR - by the way, it’s not just the executive, it’s also the legislature because enacting legislation requires the approval of the Legislative Council - if we could not achieve that by ourselves, then of course, in absolute compliance with the principle of “one country, two systems”, the central authorities could not turn a blind eye and have to act. And what we have seen on May 28, the decision passed by the National People’s Congress is to implement that very important measure.

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The central government’s policy towards Hong Kong remains unchanged following the National People’s Congress’ (NPC) decision on the national security law in the city.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam made the statement when she met reporters ahead of today’s Executive Council meeting.

Mrs Lam said: “I can say very categorically that there is absolutely no change in the policy of the central authorities towards the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region because that policy is enshrined through the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR and repeatedly stressed by the leaders, and that is the successful, comprehensive and accurate implementation of 'one country, two systems’.”

She pointed out that national security is a core part of the comprehensive and accurate implementation of “one country, two systems” as every country needs national security to safeguard its interests.

“So there is no deviation or shift in the policy. If there is any deviation or breach, that is our quote unquote incapacity or inefficiency in enacting local legislation on our own to safeguard national security.”

She reiterated that the NPC’s decision on the national security law in Hong Kong is necessary.

“After 23 years when that arrangement was being put in place through Article 23 of the Basic Law, but the Hong Kong SAR - by the way, it’s not just the executive, it’s also the legislature because enacting legislation requires the approval of the Legislative Council - if we could not achieve that by ourselves, then of course, in absolute compliance with the principle of ‘one country, two systems’, the central authorities could not turn a blind eye and have to act.

“And what we have seen on May 28, the decision passed by the NPC is to implement that very important measure.”