Hong Kong's carefully deliberated Basic Law will stand the test of time and should not be changed arbitrarily, according to Tam Yiu-chung, a member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council and drafter of the law.
Tam, former chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, made the remarks during an interview with Xinhua.
Tam was one of the 23 people from Hong Kong, and 36 from the mainland tasked with compiling the law in 1985.
He believes problems with the political system in Hong Kong can be solved with the law, as well as issues that have surfaced during social development.
Regarding controversy surrounding the universal suffrage package proposed by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, Tam said there were no major disputes centering this issue when the law was being drafted.
The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration ruled that the selection of chief executive should be through consultation or election, and this was finalized in the Basic Law through universal suffrage, Tam said.
"It evidenced sizable progress, and was widely accepted," Tam commented. "Although no time-table was given in the Basic Law, we felt excited as we finally got a chance to realize universal suffrage of the chief executive."
However, considering the extreme importance of this position, the drafting committee agreed, the chief executive should not be randomly chosen and should be appointed by the central government, Tam said, adding "the appointment has to be in real term, rather than symbolic."
Some question the level of restriction on the selection of chief executive and others went further, proposing a citizen nomination.
Tam said when the Basic Law was being drafted, no one talked about "citizen nomination".
The reason why it is a contested issue now is that some people are intentionally misleading Hong Kong citizens, Tam said.
He said the degree of autonomy the SAR can exercise, or what kind of power the central authorities confer to the SAR, are all prescribed in the Basic Law, but a "high degree of autonomy" does not equal "absolute autonomy".
The Basic Law was compiled over five years and it has been a concrete basis for ruling Hong Kong since it was returned to China in 1997, Tam averred, underscoring that there was neither need nor justification to change the Basic Law.
