Opposition pressure on CFA

The Court of Final Appeal (CFA) will resume hearing next month of the case filed by a foreign domestic helper (FDH) over her right of abode in Hong Kong. At a symposium on Sunday, however, 23 opposition lawmakers expressed their strong opposition if the CFA decides to seek a reinterpretation from the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on this case.

Professor Albert Chen, who teaches at the University of Hong Kong's Department of Law, pointed out at the gathering that the Hong Kong Bar Association had made it clear in a recent statement, people outside the case should not comment on it so much since it is already involved in judicial process. The spirit of judicial independence is that court rulings will not be influenced by outside interference; therefore the opposition lawmakers' public criticism related to the case when it is already in judicial process constitutes an attempt to influence the CFA's ruling over the case and an open assault on Hong Kong's judicial independence.

Since the Department of Justice requested that the CFA ask the NPCSC to reinterpret the Basic Law, the opposition has taken various actions to exert pressure on the CFA. One such case involves a proposal by Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok to hold a LegCo special meeting to discuss the interpretation of the Basic Law, which borders on putting the CFA judges on public trial. And now there is a bid in the guise of a symposium to prevent the CFA from seeking the NPCSC interpretation. All these are attempts to sway the CFA ruling.

In fact the problem was born of the CFA's refusal to be guided by the the "Opinions" of the Preparatory Committee in 1996 and a NPCSC interpretation in 1999, when the court ruled on the "Chong Fung Yuen case" in 2001. That ruling practically opened the door for an influx of non-local women from the mainland seeking to give birth here in recent years.

The government has the constitutional right and sound reason to seek NPCSC interpretation of the Basic Law on this issue.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on Jan 7.

Kwan Chiu

Meat price surge a concern

With the Lunar New Year approaching, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is set to deliver his first Policy Address later this month. Apart from housing, consumer prices are without question what local residents are concerned about most nowadays.

Eager as they are to become homeowners, many Hongkongers understand that rising property prices and rents are a tough nut to crack. They are not homeless right now, but surging food prices and those of pork and beef in particular are the "burning issue" of the day. The retail prices of pork and beef have increased by at least 20 percent this month, with beef costing HK$90 for 500 grams and HK$50 for the same amount of pork.

For most of the typical households, beef is not a must on the dining table everyday and they can buy less when it's too expensive. Pork, however, is another story altogether. It is one of the most common ingredients in home cooking here, be it for dishes or soup.

Some people blame the monopoly by the sole importer for surging beef and pork prices. Some intermediaries have threatened to hold a market boycott against it. In fact, the real reason behind the increase in pork and beef prices lies in the supply and demand situation.

It is well known that ensuring supply of meat and other foods for Hong Kong has been a "political task" of mainland provinces such as Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi since the days when Premier Zhou Enlai was in charge and the daily food supply must be inexpensive, of good quality and genuine as well as sufficient. This policy has been in force for decades and did not change much significantly even during the "cultural revolution".

Today, after more than 30 years of economic reform and opening, the living standard of mainland residents has greatly improved and the demand for meat has been rising as well. Hong Kong nowadays has to compete with mainland markets for food supply and low price is no longer guaranteed. Even the humble pork can become a pricy rarity when major holidays such the Chinese New Year and National Day are near. Sometimes live pigs earmarked for Hong Kong are pre-sold to mainland buyers before they are ready to leave the farms.

Obviously the low prices and abundant supply of meat for Hong Kong are a favor from the central government that local residents should not take for granted.

The author is a current affairs commentator. This is an excerpted translation of her column published in Ta Kung Pao on Jan 7.

(HK Edition 01/08/2013 page3)