Beijing Starts Deliberating On Legco Extension

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Xia Baolong on Saturday presented a proposal to extend the term of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to China’s top parliamentary body, that reportedly does not involve any Basic Law interpretation.

State media reported that the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), which opened a four-day meeting on Saturday, started discussing the matter after being briefed by Xia.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the State Council considers Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s decision to put off the September poll by one year to be legally justified; and the NPCSC will make a timely and lawful decision to fill the vacuum to ensure that the Hong Kong government, and society at large, can continue to function as normal.

But even though the Basic Law specifies that each term of Legco is limited to four years at most, it's understood that the proposal does not involve any interpretation of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

Hong Kong’s sole member on the NPCSC, Tam Yiu-chung, told RTHK that Xia had made a detailed explanation of the plan to the body, and stressed that the proposal fully complies with the Basic Law.

However, he said he could not divulge any details.

Tam added that the NPCSC will not be considering Washington’s latest move to slap sanctions on 11 present and former Hong Kong and mainland officials over the national security law, while deliberating on the matter.

The debate continued on Sunday morning with a round of group discussions.

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