Zhang Xiaoming’s controversial speech on Hong Kong governance: The full text

Editor’s note: On September 12, the Joint Committee for the Promotion of the Basic Law held a seminar on the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Basic Law. Zhang Xiaoming, director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, delivered a speech entitled “A Correct Understanding of the Characteristics of the Political System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”. Read the Chinese version of the speech here.

Since the Basic Law was promulgated 25 years ago, and especially since Hong Kong was returned to China 18 years ago, people have developed a deeper understanding of “One Country, Two Systems” and the Basic Law. Today, although there are still people who do not give up on such ideas as “public nomination” and “party nomination”, it is undeniable that fewer and fewer people are holding the view that these ideas are in line with the Basic Law. From this perspective, although the goal of political reform at the time, that is, universal suffrage for the chief executive – was not achieved, yet achievements have been significant for the promotion of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle and the Basic Law.

For a correct understanding and implementation of the Basic Law, we also need the courage to clarify some erroneous or ambiguous points of view. On this occasion, I would like to talk about problems regarding the political system of the HKSAR.

What are the characteristics of the HKSAR’s political system? For a long time, there have been many different views about this issue.