Hong Kong Legislative Council oath of office controversy: Difference between revisions

On 4 November, [[Maria Tam]], a member of the Basic Law Committee of the NPCSC, confirmed that the committee had received a letter from [[Zhang Dejiang]], chairman of the National People’s Congress, who said Basic Law Article 104 would be interpreted and that committee members' views would be sought. A Hong Kong government spokesman also said it had been notified by the central government that an item relating to interpreting Article 104 of the Basic Law had been put on the agenda of the NPCSC. Civic Party's Dennis Kwok for the Legal constituency warned the interpretation would deal a huge blow to Hong Kong's rule of law.<ref>{{cite news|title=Beijing to interpret Basic Law over Hong Kong legislative oath controversy, senior adviser confirms|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2042976/beijing-interpret-basic-law-over-hong-kong-legislative-oath|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=4 November 2016}}</ref> The [[Hong Kong Bar Association]] said it was "deeply concerned" about the reports of the interpretation of the Basic Law earlier, saying it would "deal a severe blow to the independence of the judiciary and the power of final adjudication of the Hong Kong court", if the NPCSC insisted on interpreting the Basic Law before the court's final ruling. "It will also seriously undermine the confidence of the Hong Kong people and the international community in the high degree of autonomy of [Hong Kong]," it said.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2042319/hong-kongs-top-legal-body-deeply-concerned-over-mainland|title=Hong Kong’s top legal body ‘deeply concerned’ over mainland intervention in oath-taking saga|newspaper=South China Morning Post|date=2 November 2016}}</ref>

 

 

On 7 November, the NPCSC unanimously passed "The National People's Congress Standing Committee's interpretation of the Basic Law Article 104 of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region".<ref>{{cite news|title=BREAKING: Beijing’s legislature passes unanimous ruling to interpret Hong Kong’s mini-constitution over oath saga|url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2016/11/07/breaking-beijings-legislature-passes-unanimous-ruling-to-interpret-hong-kongs-mini-constitution-over-oath-saga/|work=Hong Kong Free Press|date=7 November 2016}}</ref> It made the points including that the person taking the oath should take it in a sincere and solemn manner with accurate, complete and solemn phrases such as "uphold the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China" and "bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China" as stated in the statutory oath. If oath-taker refuses to take the oath, he or she cannot retake the oath and shall be disqualified from assuming public office. It also stated that the oath administrator has the duty to confirm if the oath-taking is carried out legally and complies with this interpretation and Hong Kong law. The spokesman of the [[Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office]] stated that "[Beijing] will absolutely neither permit anyone advocating secession in Hong Kong nor allow any pro-independence activists to enter a government institution." Following Beijing’s decision, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Hong Kong would enact [[Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23|Article 23]], a controversial provision of the Basic Law relating to national security legislation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hong Kong will move on controversial security law, CY Leung says, as Beijing bars independence activists from Legco|date=7 November 2016|newspaper=South China Morning Post|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2043556/beijing-passes-interpretation-hong-kongs-basic-law-legco}}</ref>