'One country, two systems' for national rejuvenation

Learning from history before planning for the future explains why China has the longest continuous history (5,000 years) of any country in the world and why the Communist Party of China has been governing the country successfully since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. Yet the world is still trying to fathom how the CPC-led China, which follows its own development path, rose from poverty and weakness to become the world's second-largest economy and a major country－and how the CPC's leadership has been cemented.

In his speech on July 1 to mark the centenary of the founding of the Party, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, reviewed the gains and losses of the Party since its founding. While the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, held from Nov 8 to 11, focused not only on the achievements of the Party but also on its whole experience over the past century.

And within these historical achievements, the "one country, two systems" policy represents the integration of Chinese wisdom and Marxism, which the Party will continue to promote to realize peaceful reunification and national rejuvenation.

As the sixth plenary session's resolution said, the "central authorities have fully supported better integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the country's overall development as well as high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", laying a solid foundation "for advancing law-based governance in Hong Kong and Macao and for securing steady and continued success of the 'one country, two systems' policy".

"One country, two systems" is in sync with ancient China's statecraft which embraced different forms of governance and different lifestyles. The practice provides a blueprint for peaceful national reunification in the 20th century. And like Hong Kong and Macao, Taiwan can also reunite with the motherland under the "one country, two systems" framework.

The "one country, two systems" policy is also in line with the Party's founding and governing precepts. The policy is a great achievement of the CPC in striking a balance between peaceful reunification and dealing with the ideological questions raised by some in the international community. Aimed at ultimately solving the Taiwan question, the "one country, two systems" policy was first implemented in Hong Kong and then in Macao.

But "one country" is a precondition for "two systems". While enjoying a high degree of autonomy as special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macao first must serve national interests. However, as the sixth plenum's resolution said, "due to a variety of complicated factors both at home and abroad, anti-China activities aimed at destabilizing Hong Kong ran rampant for a period of time, posing serious challenges to Hong Kong".

So the CPC Central Committee decided to enhance the central government's exercise of overall jurisdiction over the SAR in accordance with the Constitution and the Hong Kong Basic Law, and to improve relevant systems and mechanisms for enforcing the Constitution and Basic Law. Accordingly, a National Security Law has been implemented in Hong Kong for safeguarding national security, and reforming the electoral system aims to ensure that patriots govern Hong Kong. Public order has been restored in Hong Kong.

The central authorities have firmly supported the law-based efforts of the SAR to end violence and chaos, and restore order, supported the Hong Kong chief executive and government to practice law-based governance, taken measures to stop foreign elements from interfering in the affairs of Hong Kong, and punish the acts of separatism, subversion, infiltration and sabotage in the SAR according to the law.

With loopholes plugged, Hong Kong has become a more secure, more friendly global city, and more conducive to boosting the development of the Greater Bay Area.

To help develop the Greater Bay Area, the Qianhai project with the aim of deepening Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation and the Hengqin project with the goal of increasing exchanges between Guangdong province and the Macao SAR were launched in September. And in the 2021 Policy Address, the Hong Kong government proposed the "Northern Metropolis Plan", which for the first time envisioned Hong Kong's future beyond its boundaries and decided to further integrate the SAR with the Chinese mainland.

Under the "one country, two systems" framework, Hong Kong and Macao are expected to enjoy long-term stability and prosperity, setting an example for Taiwan. With the Party working to realize its second centenary goal of national rejuvenation by the middle of this century, "one country, two systems" will play a bigger role in promoting national reunification and higher-level modernization, which are essential to national rejuvenation.

The author is an associate professor at the School of Law, Beihang University.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.