Beijing official’s speech signals Hong Kong has never been ‘independent’, experts say

Beijing official Zhang Yong recently said ‘Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong’ guiding principle implies oversight by central authorities

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A political analyst has said Beijing might be eager to reinforce its stance on Hong Kong as critics slam the city’s recent national security trials. Photo: David Wong

Published: 8:30am, 26 Nov 2024

A senior Beijing official’s remarks that the “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” guiding principle implies oversight by central authorities are a reminder that the city has never been an “independent political entity”, political analysts have said.

They also argued that Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the Basic Law Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body, had decided to reinforce the message of Beijing’s jurisdiction over the city under the Basic Law on the heels of two national security trials which drew attacks from some Western countries.

Zhang said on Sunday that the principle of “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” did not mean the city could only be administered by its people themselves.

“This is not entirely true,” he told a legal seminar. “Of course, the central government also must administer Hong Kong. Otherwise, where does the Basic Law come from?”

Article 22 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, states that “no department of the central people’s government and no province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the central government” shall interfere in Hong Kong affairs.

Zhang, who also serves as deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the standing committee, said the NPC “should” and “can” exercise its rights to administer Hong Kong similar to how “all other sovereign entities” do.