Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Adding to and Deleting from the List of the National Laws in Annex III to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 26th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on July 1, 1997)

1. The following national laws shall be added to Annex III to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China:

(1) Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Flag

(2) Regulations of the People's Republic of China Concerning Consular Privileges and Immunities

(3) Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Emblem

(4) Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone

(5) Law of the People's Republic of China on Garrisoning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The national laws mentioned above shall be promulgated or implemented through legislation by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as of July 1, 1997.

2. The following national law shall be deleted from Annex III to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China:

Order on the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China Proclaimed by the Central People's Government Attached: Design of the national emblem, notes of explanation and instructions for use.

Appendix: Proposal of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Under the National People's Congress on Adding to and Deleting from the List of the National Laws in Annex III to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Under the National People's Congress on May 23, 1997)

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress: As is stipulated by the provisions of Article 18 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, "National laws shall not be applied in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region except for those listed in Annex III to this Law. The laws listed therein shall be applied locally by way of promulgation or legislation by the Region. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress may add to or delete from the list of laws in Annex III after consulting its Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the government of the Region. Laws listed in Annex III to this Law shall be confined to those relating to defence and foreign affairs as well as other matters outside the limits of the autonomy of the Region as specified by this Law." Since after the promulgation of the Basic Law, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has formulated a number of new laws, some of which the Preparatory Committee believes are laws relating to defence and foreign affairs as well as other matters outside the limits of the autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Committee therefore proposes that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 18 of the Basic Law, make a decision to add to and delete from the list of the national laws in Annex III to the Basic Law at the time when it is implemented.

Specifically, the Proposal is as follows: I The following national laws shall be added to Annex III to the Basic Law:

1. Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Flag;

2. Regulations of the People's Republic of China Concerning Consular Privileges and Immunities;

3. Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Emblem;

4. Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone; and

5. Law of the People's Republic of China on Garrisoning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. II The following national law shall be deleted from Annex III to the Basic Law:

Order on the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China Proclaimed by the Central People's Government

Attached: Design of the national emblem, notes of explanation and instructions for use.