The Third Republic Manifesto: A Hypothetical Case for a Liberal Hong Kong and a Liberal China
Ever since the self-strengthening movement and constitutional reform in late Qing, all the way up to the First Republic (Republic of China), and the Second Republic (People's Republic of China), the main hindrance to a modern political system in China hinged on the non-effective implementation of thThe most recent version of the constitution of China was written in 1980s and contain outdated clauses and clauses that limit liberty and undermine separation of power. We, the Third Republic, aim at giving a new constitution that fits Modern China and that fits a liberal China. The road to the new 1) We propose a Constitutional Convention that contain representatives from all provinces and municipalities in China. Specifically, each province and municipality voted for four representatives, giving a total of 128 representatives that will go through and rewrite the constitution line by line.2) The new constitution should enshrine liberal principles, separation of power, and democracy with Chinese Characteristics.3) The Executive branch (State Council) should be non-partisan with all its staff including the Premier and Vice Premier belonging to no political party.4) The Premier is chosen by vote among the four Vice-Premier and the selected Premier will name his replacement Vice-Premier.5) The NPC consists of 4 elected representatives from each province and municipality, elected among the county- and village- level representatives who are in turn elected by the village and county population.6) The partisan NPC will among its 128 representatives elect a chairman that presides over the agenda of NPC.7) The judiciary is headed by the President, whose chief duties is to ensure the rightful operation of the Constitution, newly written by the NPC.8) The President along with 5 more Chief-judges form the constitutional court that handle judicial review of policies executed by the State Council or laws passed by the NPC. The President has the deciding vote when there is a 3-3 tie in judicial review cases.9) The President can actively indict NPC or State Council for breach of constitution and bring in new cases to the constitutional court10) The President is the first among three equals (President from Judiciary, Premier from Executive, and Chairman from Legislative) and Commander-in-Chief.11) The Army pay allegiance to the Constitution and is headed by the President from the Judiciary branch.12) The President is elected by the whole nation among the 5 Chief Judges and will name his replacement Chief Judge.The new constitution enshrines a principle of separation of power, with more power tilted intentionally towards the Judiciary as the failure of past China is largely a failure to practice rule of law, so by placing the President and Commander-in-Chief in the Judiciary branch, we hope the the principFinally, for a liberal Hong Kong, we urge the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to go back to the original and true spirit of the Basic Law and One Country, Two Systems. Among these, Hong Kong sorely need a universal suffrage for its LegCo and Chief Executive, in order to revive the dull civil spiriCitizens and Residents interested in our causes can email [email protected].