Reuters
Tuesday, April 6, 2004; 4:10 AM
By Alison Leung and Carrie Lee

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“The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) passed an interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law giving Beijing full control over the territory’s political reform.

The leaders of China’s parliament interpreted two clauses in Hong Kong’s constitution as meaning that Beijing has the authority to decide if political changes are needed and can veto anything it does not want.

Hong Kong’s chief executive could propose electoral changes to the parliament Standing Committee. The committee would then rule on whether or not there was a need for the change based on the Basic Law, the situation in Hong Kong and ‘the principle of gradual and orderly progress as required by the Basic Law.'”