Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam Sui-lung stressed yesterday that the Basic Law has bestowed Hong Kong with high autonomy but not complete power of self-determination.

Lam made the remarks at a seminar organized by Civic Exchange, the Department of Public and Social Administration of the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Democratic Development Network, and the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation.

He pointed out that the central government has a role to play at the constitutional level.

He reiterated the fact that the approval of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, is needed if the selection method of the chief executive is to be changed.

"We must follow the procedures provided in Annexes I and II of the Basic Law in handling the issue of constitutional review. That is, any proposal must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the legislative councillors as well as the chief executive, and reported to the NPC standing committee for approval or record," Lam said.

He observed that the Basic Law has mapped out the blueprint for Hong Kong's constitutional development in the first decade after reunification.

The original intention was to give the SAR a 10-year stabilizing period. According to the Basic Law, Hong Kong's election system is to develop in a gradual and orderly manner and according to the actual situation in the territory, with the ultimate objective of achieving universal suffrage.

In light of the provisions of the Basic Law, there is room for development for Hong Kong's political system.

The chief executive has stated clearly in the National Day speech that it is the unshirkable duty of the current administration to drive Hong Kong's democratization process forward, Lam said.

As long as the SAR's constitutional review is undertaken according to the Basic Law, the principle of gradual and orderly progress and the actual situation in the territory, democratization could be achieved and stability and prosperity maintained at the same time, Lam opined.

At the seminar, Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, chairman of Hopewell Holdings, said that Hong Kong people should avoid undermining the SAR's prosperity, stability and economic development when striving for universal suffrage in the election of the chief executive.

He said that Hongkongers should not blindly seek a one-man-one-vote election system and stressed that the Basic Law must be followed.

He believes that rational and systematic discussion over the method to elect the chief executive is more in line with the long-term interests.

(China Daily HK Edition December 13, 2003)