Since her coming to power, “state” and “central government” have become Carrie Lam’s pet words. In the Policy Address of this year, “state” was mentioned 53 times while “central government” 41. Some asked if that was a report for the state or Policy Address for Hong Kong. When she touched on Liberal Studies, she said “the requisitions made in the state constitution” need to be understood by students before helping them get to know the “state”, the “constitution” and the “Basic Law”.

After an avalanche of “states”, Carrie Lam didn’t tell Hong Kong people what a “state” means. In fact, in all China’s propaganda, there isn’t a single word about what a “state” is.

By universal meaning or common sense, a state is an entity comprising the people, the land and the sovereignty. The priority of the three, according to Mencius, is: “In a state, the people are the most important; the gods of land and grain(land) are the next; the ruler himself(sovereignty) is the least.” In the first line of the US constitution, “We The People” makes crystal clear the purpose and main theme from the very beginning that the constitution was written by the people. In civilized modern western states, the ruling power, an embodiment of the legitimacy of the sovereignty, comes from an authorization granted once in a few years by votes cast by the people in elections. This is the polity where the sovereignty rests with the people: the government of the people, by the people and for the people, in which the rights of the people are maximized.

Even though it is true that the Basic Law of Hong Kong was founded on Article 31 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the basic natures of the two are different through and through. Article 51 of China’s Constitution stipulates that “when exercising their freedoms and rights, citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall not undermine the interests of the state, society or collectives…” This is an article maximizing state power. There is no provision like this in the Basic Law. In the chapter about “the fundamental rights and duties of citizens” of in China’s Constitution, a lot of duties of citizens are specified: the duty to implement birth control, safeguard the unification of the country, do the military service, as well as a list of do’s and don’t’s. With regard to “duties” in the chapter about “the fundamental rights and duties of residents” in the Basic Law, there is only one article: the duty of residents to comply with the law of Hong Kong. It is stipulated in China’s Constitution that it is the citizens’ duty to implement birth control. On the contrary, Article 37 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong states expressly that Hong Kong residents’ right to raise a family freely shall be protected by law. In the former, the people have to obey the country while in the latter, the people enjoy the natural rights. Regarding the two international covenants on human rights, Article 39 of the Basic Law stipulates that the provisions of the covenants apply to Hong Kong, and the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents shall not be restricted by any legislation concerning the residents’ rights unless as prescribed by law. To this end, the Basic Law can be deemed a human rights constitution, a statute in which individual rights are maximized.

If the Basic Law, maximization of individual rights, is not put into practice as an exception to China’s Constitution but is exercised in compliance with the latter, maximization of state power, the deep-rooted contradictions generated will intensify. The more the top executives place emphasis on “state”, the more intensified and apparent the contradictions between the government and the citizens who are adamant about individual rights are.

In China, where the state power is maximized, how is the definition of “state” interpreted? The Hanyu Da Cidian(Chinese Dictionary) published by China continues using the Leninist elucidation: the State is a special organization of force of the ruling class for the suppression of some class .

Who pertain to the ruling class in China now? Who are being suppressed? What does Hong Kong look like when China’s Constitution overrides the Basic Law? No answer is clearer than Article 51 of China’s Constitution and the definition in the Hanyu Da Cidian.

In a state where individual rights are maximized, when talking about patriotism, the people understand it is about one’s love for the state on the condition that individual rights are protected by the constitution; in a state where state power is maximized, what circumstances will patriotism produce? Essayist Bo Yang said when interviewed by me in 1987: “You can’t love this country anymore, it’ll be loved to death”, because “almost everyone loves this country by getting it victimized and loves this nation by getting it victimized”.

Carrie Lam says all the time she is “patriotic”. That said, under her “patriotic” administration, the status of Hong Kong as an international city has been dying away; developed countries have started to ban high-tech products from being exported to Hong Kong; the role of Hong Kong as white gloves to connect China with developed countries and as a stronghold to draw in foreign capitals have been waning. To China, the use value of Hong Kong has been diminishing. Carrie Lam loves this state by getting it victimized. If she continues doing so, Hong Kong will be dead, and China will be loved to death.

(Lee Yee, a prominent political commentator in Hong Kong who embarked on a career of writing and subediting in 1956, has been contributing unremittingly political commentaries to the local press.)

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