Elsie Leung, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and former secretary for justice, said on Thursday that Hong Kong has an obligation to contribute to national security. Leung stressed that the city's constitutional reforms must take account of the current condition of the country as well as Hong Kong. Her comments reflect the central government's standing on national security in regard to the SAR and its constitutional development.

The current situation in Hong Kong indicates that certain foreign powers are using their proxies here to destabilize the SAR and disrupt the nation's peaceful development. Hong Kong society has every reason to help thwart such subversive attempts if only for its own good.

Some people here have been spreading the notion that national security does not concern Hong Kong. The great majority of opposition parties may not promote such ideas in public. But these parties agree with what some foreign powers say about how Hong Kong should handle its relations with the central government.

Some foreign powers insist Hong Kong's constitutional reform must comply with unspecified "international standards". That is why the opposition camp refuses to follow the Basic Law on matters related to constitutional reform, specifically the implementation of universal suffrage in the 2017 Chief Executive election.

The "pan-democrats" have gone so far as to blackmail the central government by threatening to take Hong Kong's economy hostage with "Occupy Central". The "Occupy" organizers have suggested that whatever discomfort Hongkongers may experience under "Occupy", the campaign will be worth it. They argue that people will come to feel this way when the situation returns to normal after the central government gives in and lets Hong Kong have "genuine universal suffrage". But the real question is: Can they speak for 7 million Hong Kong residents, or 3 million voters, for that matter?

It is hard to believe any clear-headed politician would risk being labeled public enemy No 1 for something so obviously counterproductive in every way. But almost all the opposition parties are rallying behind the illegal movement. One explanation is their conviction is based not so much on the belief that one of their own candidates can actually win the CE election but because they owe tens of millions of dollars in political donations to their foreign benefactors. These benefactors want the "One Country, Two Systems" policy either to serve their own interests or to fail completely. It is all a matter of national interest for the foreign forces bankrolling the opposition in Hong Kong to give the central government as well as the SAR government a hard time. That is exactly why Hong Kong plays a very important role in safeguarding our own national security. Whatever we do should be in our own best interest. And our own best interest is deeply linked with the country's stability and prosperity. That is what national security is all about.

(HK Edition 08/15/2014 page9)