Macau Basic Law Promotion Association President Liu Chak Wan said yesterday that it was a vital and fundamental rule for Macau to exercise the “one country, two systems” policy and to fully comprehend and implement the principle of the Macau Basic Law, so to ensure the prosperity and sustainable development of Macau.
Liu, a prominent businessman and member of the Executive Council, made the remarks in his opening speech during a seminar to mark the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Macau Basic Law, at Macau Tower.
After Liu’s opening speech, four guests delivered speeches.
Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council Vice Director Feng Wei said that the Macau Basic Law has been Macau’s legal guidance since the city’s return to the motherland in 1999, which started a new historical era for Macau to practise the “one country, two systems” framework with a high degree of autonomy. Feng also said that 25 years after the promulgation of the Macau
Basic Law, the “one country, two systems” concept has proven to be “very successful” in Macau, and it has been “tested historically”.
The former head of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Law Committee, Qiao Xiaoyang, said that the “one country, two systems” principle is a vital component for the nation’s system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, adding it is now “our common call and duty” to continue exercising the principle in Macau, for new accomplishments in the new era.
Qiao also said that the administrative relationship between the central government and the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is one between the central government’s overall jurisdiction and Macau’s high degree of autonomy. According to Qiao, these two components are the manifestations of sovereignty and the exercise of sovereignty. He also said that the authorisation of Macau’s power of autonomy is rooted in the central government’s overall jurisdiction vis-a-vis Macau.
According to Qiao, it would be wrong to put the two into a competing relationship, since both are internally consistent, based on their same root. Qiao also said that it has become a task for everyone to integrate the two in a dynamic way, after the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress last year.
Central People’s Government Liaison Office Director Zheng Xiaosong said that Macau was marching on a new journey of “one country, two systems”, as the special administrative region has a close connection with the nation’s new era of socialism. Macau and
Hong Kong’s economic prosperity and sustainable development are the foundation for achieving national reunification and the nation’s great rejuvenation.
Zheng also said that the Constitution was the fundamental law of China as it has the highest legal status nationwide, including in Macau and Hong Kong. He also said that the Macau Basic Law was a product of the “legalised and institutionalised” “one country, two systems” model, offering it as the constitutional basis to be exercised in Macau.
Acting Chief Executive Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said that the success of Macau’s economic prosperity and sustainable development was
due to the superiority of the model of “one country, two systems”. She added that the Constitution and the Macau Basic Law have jointly set up the constitutional foundation for Macau, which has guaranteed the success of the “one country, two system” model in Macau.
Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On could not attend the one-day seminar because he was on a working visit to Beijing where he
visited Tsinghua University.
Former Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah (centre, first row), former National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee vice chairman Wang Hanbin (5th from left), Acting Chief Executive Sonia Chan Hoi Fan (5th from the right), Central People’s Government Liaison Office Director Zheng Xiaosong (4th from left), former head of the NPC Law Committee Qiao Xiaoyang (4th from right), Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council Vice Director Feng Wei (3rd from left), Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Macau Commissioner Ye Dabo (3rd from right), Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macau Students President Xu Ze (2nd from left), Legislative Assembly President Ho Iat Seng (2nd from right), Macau Basic Law Promotion Association President Liu Chak Wan (1st from left) and the association’s Director Chui Sai Cheong (1st from right) and academics (second row) pose for a group photo during a seminar marking the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the Macau Basic Law, at Macau Tower yesterday. Photo: Edwin Yang
