香港基本法
幸运的是，香港已经有了一份保险，即邓小平在1984年提出的《基本法》的形式。
这实际上是一部以《联合声明》及其附件为模板制定的宪法。
它将中国在 "一国两制 "下保证香港在1997年后50年的权利和自由的承诺写入法律文件。
By good fortune, Hong Kong already had an insurance policy, in the form of the Basic Law proposed in 1984 by Deng. This was, in effect, a constitution hammered out on the template of the Joint Declaration and its annexes. It put in a legal document the commitments made by China to guarantee Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms for fifty years after 1997 under ‘one country, two systems’.
基本法》是中国比较灵活时期的成果。
根据赵紫阳的指示，中国政府在1985年成立了一个起草委员会，并邀请了23名香港代表加入其36名大陆成员。
该委员会由姬鹏飞担任主席，姬鹏飞是一位在与英国的小规模冲突中饱经沧桑的谈判专家，也是一位有效的外交家。
中国方面甚至邀请了香港的民主人士李柱铭和司徒华参加讨论。
这些讨论自然是充满争议的。
香港代表试图最大限度地发挥 "两制 "的作用，以巩固民主和保护自由。
中国政府的目标是巩固 "一国 "的地位，尽量减少民主，集中精力消除 "颠覆"。
结果是一个严重偏向于中央政府的妥协方案。
尽管如此，在21世纪的背景下，反映出共产党在制定香港由自己的人民治理的过程中确实与其反对者进行了协商、谈判和辩论，这一点似乎很了不起。
The Basic Law was the fruit of a period of comparative flexibility in China. On the instructions of Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese government had set up a drafting committee in 1985 and invited twenty-three representatives from Hong Kong to join its thirty-six mainland members. The committee was chaired by Ji Pengfei, a battle-scarred negotiator from the skirmishes with the British and an effective diplomat. The Chinese even invited the Hong Kong democrats Martin Lee and Szeto Wah to join the discussions. Naturally these were fraught. The Hong Kong delegates sought to maximise ‘two systems’, to embed democracy and to protect freedom. The Chinese government aimed to cement ‘one country’ in place, to minimise democracy and to focus on eliminating ‘subversion’. The outcome was a compromise heavily weighted in favour of the central government. None the less, in the context of the twenty-first century it seems remarkable to reflect that the Communist Party did indeed consult, negotiate and debate with its opponents in the process of formulating the way that Hong Kong was to be governed by its own people.
谈判在中国和香港进行了近四年。
中国体制内对文本的争论与香港的律师和宪法专家对文本的争论一样激烈。
到1988年底，第一份草案已经公布，供公众咨询。
第二稿于1989年2月在深圳的一次会议上获得通过，当时中国的政治体制正处于混乱的边缘。
该草案被民主人士所反对，但鉴于中国的自由主义即将失败，它是一个值得抓住的奖品。
在四个月内，改革派被赶下了台。
1990年4月4日，全国人民代表大会批准了《基本法》--其官方中文文本长达七十三页。
The talks went on in China and in Hong Kong for almost four years. The text was argued over inside the Chinese system just as strongly as it was debated by lawyers and constitutional experts in Hong Kong. By late 1988 a first draft was published for public consultation. The second draft was approved at a meeting in Shenzhen in February 1989, just as the Chinese political system was poised on the brink of chaos. It was disliked by the democrats but, given the impending defeat of what passed for liberalism in China, it was a prize worth seizing. Within four months the reformers were driven from power. The Basic Law – its official text in Chinese running to seventy-three pages – was approved by the National People’s Congress on 4 April 1990.
这些关键点对香港的未来至关重要。
中国收回了主权，控制了外交事务，并将自费在该市驻扎军队。
作为一个特别行政区，香港将享有 "高度自治"。
其行政和立法机构将从永久居民中产生。
社会主义制度和政策将不被实施，"资本主义制度和生活方式将保持50年不变"。
私有财产、普通法和拥有最终裁决权的独立司法机构得到保障。
所有的土地都属于国家，就像在英国王室统治下一样，并被租赁给个人或公司。
中央政府的任何部门或任何省份都不得干涉香港事务。
所有居民 "有言论、新闻、出版的自由；有结社、集会、游行、示威的自由；有参加工会和罢工的权利和自由"。
The key points were vital to the future of Hong Kong. China took back sovereignty, controlled foreign affairs and would station a military garrison in the city at its own expense. Hong Kong would enjoy ‘a high degree of autonomy’ as a Special Administrative Region. Its executive and legislature were to be drawn from permanent residents. The socialist system and policies were not to be practised ‘and the capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for fifty years’. Private property, the common law and an independent judiciary, with the power of final adjudication, were guaranteed. All land belonged to the state, as it had under the British Crown, and was leased to individuals or firms. No part of the central government, nor any province, might interfere in Hong Kong affairs. All residents ‘shall have freedom of speech, of the press and of publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration; and the right and freedom to join trade unions and to strike’. These were rights not available to the 1.2 billion citizens of the People’s Republic.
此外，《基本法》保护香港人免受任意逮捕、拘留、搜查、酷刑和 "非法剥夺生命"。
在没有法律许可的情况下，他们的家不能被搜查，通信自由和隐私受到保护，但必须符合 "公共安全的需要 "或刑事调查。
他们可以自由旅行，从事学术研究，信奉宗教，自由结婚和养家，接受社会福利，甚至可以将政府告上法庭。
In addition, the Basic Law protected Hong Kong people against arbitrary arrest, detention, searches, torture and ‘unlawful deprivation of life’. Their homes could not be searched without legal sanction, freedom and privacy of communications were protected subject to ‘the needs of public security’ or criminal investigation. They were free to travel, to engage in academic research, to practise religion, to marry and raise a family freely, to receive social welfare and even to take the government to court.
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