50 Years Unchanged Will 'surely' Continue: Rita Fan

A former Hong Kong delegate to the country's top legislature, Rita Fan, said on Sunday that the 50 years unchanged clause under the One Country, Two Systems principle will continue "for sure", unless it's not implemented well.

Article five of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region states that its capitalist system and way of life shall be unchanged for 50 years.

"The so-called '50 years unchanged' is not only written in the Basic Law, but in fact, if you look at the comments of previous state leaders. Fifty years is really not a deadline, it's the initial stage," Fan told reporters.

"In future, [50 years unchanged] will surely continue, unless the One Country, Two Systems [principle] is not done well. But right now, the [principle] can be implemented well."

She said in the past, President Xi Jinping had talked about Hong Kong's development whenever he visited Hong Kong, and she hopes he will talk more about how to accurately implement One Country, Two Systems at the ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the handover.

Fan, who's also a former Legco president, said the anniversary is a good time to learn the lesson that people shouldn't be talking about democracy and human rights.

"The basic rights are to work and get the appropriate return, so as to have a stable life, and maybe a little bit of growth. If you can't achieve this, even if you have democracy, it's useless," she told a Commercial Radio programme.

Fan said once the hearts of Hong Kong people are reunified with the country, and that most people understand they are Chinese people living in the SAR and stop doing anything that hampers the development of Hong Kong and the country, then it would be time to implement dual universal suffrage.

She added that Hong Kong's future doesn't lie in the hands of western countries, and the SAR should make use of the mainland markets, while linking up the mainland with the outside world.