HKSAR Basic Law Library to open to public

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Basic Law Library will be open to the public on Monday.

The collection of the library includes books, papers, publications, multi-media materials, on-line database and newspaper clippings on the Basic Law and constitutional law of other parts of the world. It also houses materials on the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region and works of different legal scholars.

At an opening ceremony of the library on Sunday, Deputy Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Qiao Xiaoyang said that the library will be a platform for Hong Kong people to better know about the Basic Law.

Qiao said that since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Hong Kong has attracted world attention. It is the Basic Law that ensures the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

"It's our responsibility to let Hong Kong people know about the Basic Law and protect the Basic Law," Qiao said.

A spokesman for the HKSAR Constitutional Affairs Bureau (CAB) said that the collection of the Basic Law Library is more substantial and varied than that of the existing Basic Law Reference Collection at the Central Library.

"Besides, the Basic Law Library keeps the Corpus of Papers issued by the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the HKSAR, by the Preparatory Committee of the HKSAR, and by the Preliminary Working Committee of the Preparatory Committee of the HKSAR, which have been given by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR," he said.

The HKSAR Basic Law Library is a joint project of the CAB, the Home Affairs Bureau and Basic Law Institute.

Source: Xinhua