Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen made it clear today that advocating Hong Kong's independence is contrary to the Basic Law.
Mr Yuen told reporters that the Basic Law outlines Hong Kong's unique status as a Special Administrative Region, but rules out the suggestion or advocacy of independence.
He said Article 11 of the Basic Law makes it crystal clear that all the other Hong Kong laws cannot be inconsistent with the Basic Law, which is the reason for so many explanations of its superiority to other ordinary legislations or common law.
Advocating something contrary to the fundamental principle expounded in the Basic Law is quite clearly contrary to the Basic Law itself, Mr Yuen added.
He noted that as a "responsible government" and the Department of Justice as a "responsible department" administering issues concerning the law, it would have to closely monitor the situation, since people have openly suggested that they are going to act contrary to the Basic Law.
"We would follow the same procedure as in other cases, namely, when things happen, the law enforcement agency would decide whether or not to conduct investigation and if they have the results, they would pass on the investigation results to the Department of Justice," Mr Yuen said.
The justice chief also noted that freedom of expression is not without limit, adding that freedom of speech cannot be used as a shield to defend suggestions contrary to the fundamental principle expounded in the Basic Law.
