Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said yesterday that the significance the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR) government attaches to the rule of law was one of the keys to the successful implementation of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong. He made the remarks during his meeting with the visiting delegation of Taiwan's Alliance for the Reunification of China (ARC) at Government House yesterday.
At the invitation of the Hong Kong Research Center for "one country, two systems", the delegation arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday for a four-day visit to study the exercise of the constitutional principle.
Tung expressed his warm welcome to the visiting delegation, and briefed them on the latest situation in Hong Kong.
Tung also encouraged the delegation to personally obtain first-hand information of how the abstract principle of "one country, two systems" came into reality in Hong Kong.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, ARC's Chairman Wang Ching-pyng said members were anxious to know more about Hong Kong and were anxious to put questions to the chief executive.
Questions focused on the independence of justice, the political status of Hong Kong under "one country, two systems", and the possibility of Taiwan being incorporated into the Hong Kong/mainland Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.
Wang also quoted some members as saying that they wished Tung could send Paul Yip Kwok-hwa, the CE's special adviser, as well as the chairman of the non-government think tank Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, to attend the celebration activities, to be held by ARC in Taiwan, for the fifth anniversary of HKSAR later this year.
During the four-day tour, the delegation, which includes scholars, lawyers and reporters was greeted by local business and political associations such as the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions.
The delegation will today continue their tour of the Pearl River Delta - including Guangzhou and Zhongshan.
(China Daily HK edition April 11, 2002)
