‘One country’ carries more weight than Hong Kong’s ‘two systems’, Basic Law Committee head says

Panel chairman Li Fei tells pro-Beijing magazine that city’s Basic Law is subordinate to the national constitution

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Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei lays down his interpretation of ‘one country, two systems’. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 11:15pm, 6 Jul 2017Updated: 12:16pm, 7 Jul 2017

“One country” and “two systems” do not carry equal weight in the formula governing Hong Kong, according toBasic Law Committee chairman Li Fei.

The Basic Law Committee is a body under the National People’s Congress Standing Committee comprising mainland Chinese and Hong Kong representatives who give advice on interpretations of the city’s mini-constitution.

Li echoed President Xi Jinping’s speech last week at the inauguration of the new Hong Kong administration, when he said Hongkongers “must be guided by a strong sense of ‘one country’” and uphold China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

Their comments came amid a debate in recent years over whether the two parts of the governing formula are equal, with mainland scholars arguing that national interest comes first and mainstream Hong Kong pan-democrats stressing that the city’s core values and rights and freedoms should not be compromised at the expense of national development.

Watch: Xi Jinping’s thoughts on ‘one country, two systems’

In a special edition of the pro-Beijing Bauhinia Magazine to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s handover to China, Li elaborated in an interview on how people should understand the political model and the status of the national constitution.