-62175. Article 39 of the Basic Law reads: “The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and international labour conventions as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.” The rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents shall not be restricted unless as prescribed by law. Such restrictions shall not contravene the provisions for the preceding paragraph of this Article.” It will be observed that this article, too, speaks of residents and not only of permanent residents. 176. Turning to the two articles of the ICESCR which the Hong Kong Government told the CESCR are constitutionally guaranteed in Hong Kong, art. 2 reads: “Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.” And art. 9 reads: “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance.” What the CESCR said 177. Now let us look at what the CESCR said about CSSA in general and the 7-year residence requirement in particular. That was said on 13 May 2005 in the CESCR’s concluding observations on economic, social and cultural rights in the People’s Republic of China (including Hong Kong and Macao) for which the reference is UN Doc E/C. 12/1/Add.107, §84. And this is what was said: “The Committee is seriously concerned that under the existing social security system, and in particular under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), the levels of benefit are not sufficient to guarantee a decent standard of living and the many low-income persons, in particular older persons, are not covered by the scheme.