In recent years, there seems to be a tendency for mainland Chinese officials to omit or avoid references to the
Sino-British Joint Declaration in any discussion about “one country, two systems”, as if the Joint Declaration were non-existent or wholly
irrelevant. It is an undeniable historical fact that for about 150 years between 1842 and 1997, Hong Kong was under British jurisdiction. The British government introduced to Hong Kong, among other things, the common law system and a free capitalist economy. By the end of the last century, Hong Kong enjoyed a legal, social, political and economic system and lifestyle that were quite different from that on the mainland.
It was precisely because of this historical fact that the British and the Chinese governments entered into what turned out to be two years of negotiation on the future of Hong Kong in 1982, resulting in the signing of the Joint Declaration in 1984. Under the Joint Declaration, the British government relinquished any sovereignty claim over Hong Kong in 1997, in return for a promise from the Chinese government to preserve the previous systems and lifestyle in Hong Kong and not to apply the socialist system and policies of the mainland to Hong Kong after its resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong.
The basic policies governing Hong Kong after 1997 were set out in detail in clause 3 of the Joint Declaration; these were further elaborated in 14 articles in
Annex 1 of the Joint Declaration, which also provided that these basic policies will remain unchanged for 50 years. The
Basic Law was then enacted to implement the Joint Declaration, and the basic policies stipulated in the Joint Declaration were enacted into the provisions of the Basic Law.
Lately, there have been suggestions that
China’s constitution applies to Hong Kong, notwithstanding or because of the Basic Law. It is important to take into consideration the historical background of Hong Kong referred to above in any discussion about the relationship between China’s constitution and the Basic Law.
Watch: What is the Basic Law of Hong Kong?
