Photo by Li Jie
China's top legislator Wu Bangguo Friday called for more efforts to improve public understanding of the "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to ensure Macao's long-term prosperity and stability.
Wu told a symposium marking the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Basic Law of the Macao SAR that the Basic Law was the legal embodiment of the "one country, two systems" policy, a legal assurance for the long-term prosperity and stability of Macao, and a legal foundation for governing Macao by law.
More efforts should be made to improve public understanding of the "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law so that they would enjoy popular support, said Wu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.
Wu, also chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said since the Basic Law took effect on Dec. 20, 1999, when the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Macao and setup the Macao SAR, Macao had been governed by Macao people with a high degree of autonomy under the policy of "one country, two systems."
The great practice of "one country, two systems" should be greatly advanced, he said.
He also called for more efforts to strengthen institution building to guarantee the implementation of "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law in Macao.
All the institutional rules in Macao must follow the Basic Law, he said.
Wu said the Macao SAR government, and the region's legislative and judicial organs, which shoulder key responsibility for safeguarding the proper implementation of the Basic Law and maintaining Macao's stable development, should strictly abide by the Basic Law and improve their governing capacity.
He said efforts should be made to improve the capabilities of Macao's civil servants so that they would be familiar with, faithful to and abide by the Basic Law, safeguard the Basic Law and contribute their wisdom and talent to the nation and Macao.
Wu also called for more efforts to seriously study and resolve the deep-seated contradictions and problems that might block Macao's economic and social development, properly handle appeals of the people, balance the interests of different groups, and continuously enhance the level of scientific and democratic decision-making to promote Macao's sustainable economic development and comprehensive social progress.
Wu said there were also inspirations drawn from the implementation of the Basic law.
The Macao people upheld the PRC government's resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Macao, agreed with the principle that Macao affairs were China's internal affairs, consciously safeguarded the nation's core interests and the central government's authority, and resolutely opposed and resisted interventions of external forces, he said.
They believed "the socialist motherland firmly supported Macao." They actively participated in the mainland's reform and opening-up as well as its modernization, he said.
Macao also enacted laws to further enhance "the concept of one country" in Macao and forcefully safeguarded the nation's core interests, he said.
Wu said since the founding of the Macao SAR, it had exercised a high degree of autonomy in line with the law and properly handled relations with the central government.
The SAR has firmly upheld the power which the law granted to the central government, he said.
Wu said the SAR administration, legislature and law enforcement branches attended to their own duties and bore their own responsibilities.
"Only social stability can guarantee economic prosperity and development; and only economic prosperity can enable prolonged social stability," he said
Practice has proven and will continue to prove that the "one country, two systems" policy and the Basic Law are compatible to the realities of Macao, and it can be tested by practice and history, he said.
Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah told the symposium that the Basic Law was an institutional and legal guarantee of Macao's development over the past decade, a foundation of the region's laws, institutions and policies, and a source of wisdom for the SAR to overcome challenges.
"The successful implementation of the Basic Law should be attributed to the nation's full support," he said. "The law itself has also won common understanding and popularity among local people."
The symposium in the Great Hall of the People was hosted by the Commission for the Basic Law of the Macao SAR of the NPC Standing Committee.
State leaders, including Vice President Xi Jinping, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and more than 180 officials and representatives from all walks of life from the mainland and Macao, attended the symposium.
In another development, more than 80 legal experts and representatives of all walks of the mainland and Macao society reviewed the implementation of the Basic Law at a seminar Friday afternoon.
Experts agreed that the law has been successfully implemented in Macao and the law should be better publicized, understood, implemented and respected if Macao wants to maintain its stability and the development in economy, livelihood and democracy, according to a press release issued after the seminar.
They said Wu's speech reflected the central government's resolve to adhere to the policy of "one country, two systems" and act strictly in line with the Basic Law, as well as its confidence in and expectation to the Macao people.