The Basic Law is the mini-constitution of Hong Kong, where Beijing is grappling with one of the biggest challenges to its rule of the territory.
The ruling was issued as an official interpretation, which has the force of law, of Hong Kong's Basic Law, the mini-constitution that this territory has followed since Britain handed it over to China in 1997.
It did have a legal obligation to pass an internal-security bill of some kind, one laid upon it by Article 23 of the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that governs the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its relations with the central government in Beijing.
Article 45 of this mini-constitution of Hong Kong carries similar language from the Joint Declaration: "The Chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be selected by election or through consultations held locally and be appointed by the Central People's Government".
His party advocates greater autonomy for Hong Kong by rewriting the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that underpinned the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997 under the principle of "one country, two systems".
This allowed the city to keep a "high degree of autonomy" and its legal system, guaranteed by a mini constitution known as the Basic Law. .
Hong Kong's Basic Law, a mini constitution drafted by Britain and China prior to the transfer of power, called for Hong Kong to retain its own political and economic system for 50 years.
Chief executive Leung Chas-ying hasaidid he may consult the mainland over the interpretation of the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution, to determine if young pro-democracy lawmakers can be sworn in to its legislature.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said the talks with the students were off because of the strident demands for universal suffrage, which she said was not in accordance with the city's mini-constitution, and because of their "illegal" occupation of parts of the city and calls for people to rally.
Article 23 of the Basic Law, its mini-constitution, requires the enactment of laws against subversion, sedition, secession and treason, as well as the banning of links between local and foreign political bodies, and the theft of "state secrets".
The former colony's Beijing-backed government has claimed such ideas are a blatant violation of the territory's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, which describes Hong Kong as an "inalienable part" of the People's Republic of China.
