By Longyan
1. Article 23 is a Copy of Mainland China’s “Legal Systems”
After joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), China was viewed as
finally being on the same track as the international community. However,
Hong Kong, a city that has long been known as an international metropolis
and global financial center, is now under pressure from Bejing, being
forced to be on the same track as Mainland China. In order to cater to
Jiang Zemin’s regime, Hong Kong’s government has recently made an attempt
to pass an anti-subversion law, namely, Article 23 of the Basic Law. This
is an effort to import Mainland China’s legal system into Hong Kong in
order to further “mainland-ize” Hong Kong.
The anti-subversion law’s logic is in itself controversial. It is going
backward [in terms of political development] for a special district
like Hong Kong with its free and independent legal systems.
In Mainland China, there used to be a serious criminal charge called
“anti-revolution.” If a person were charged with being “anti-revolution,”
he would either be executed or hideously tortured. Afterwards, when it was
discovered that the charge of “anti-revolution” did not fit the
requirements of the new situation, the authority in power came up with
many new laws and changed the charge of “anti-revolution” into “leaking
national secrets,” “subversion,” and so on. The new charges simply
disguise its political nature. New charges are trumped up to suit the
occasion, at will.
Now Hong Kong is attempting to pass Article 23, a duplicate of China’s
anti-subversion law.
2. Article 23 is a Basket that Anything Can Be Put into
Both the anti-subversion law of Article 23 and Mainland China’s
“leaking national secrets/subversion” law have unclear and vague terms.
The government can randomly change or add new definitions according to its
needs. These charges are like baskets into which the government can put
anything it wants. When it is necessary, the authority in power can
interpret these “legal terms” at will and charge dissidents with these
vaguely defined crimes, using the legal system as a weapon to ruthlessly
attack dissidents. With this, the authority in power can legalize
political persecution, thus using “legal systems” as a camouflage to
proceed with political persecution and to produce wrongful criminal
charges and lawsuits. With this, the authority in power can “legalize” the
attack and political persecution of dissidents, thus distracting people’s
attention from looking into its real purpose.
Hong Kong’s government is being made to diligently imitate Beijing,
crafting laws which can be used as weapons to attack dissidents and
legalize political persecution. Every citizen of Hong Kong is a specific,
potential target of Article 23. Every citizen of Hong Kong should step
forward to reject Article 23.
3. “One Country; Two Systems” Exists in Name Only
Hong Kong is now rapidly aligning itself to be on the same track with
Mainland China, it is now rapidly “mainland-izing.” Article 23’s
anti-subversion law will prematurely end “One Country; Two Systems.” Hong
Kong is destroying its own future. Article 23’s anti-subversion law
involves everybody in Hong Kong (including permanent residents). It
doesn’t matter where you live. You are a potential target of the attack.
The negative impact of Article 23 is enormous:
— It damages Hong Kong’s investment environment and damages Hong
Kong’s position as a global financial center. In Asia, Hong Kong is the
biggest global financial center next to Tokyo. It is precisely because
Hong Kong has a set of related laws that ensure its people of their rights
and freedoms that the investors have confidence in Hong Kong. Article 23
is without a doubt making a ruthless attack on Hong Kong’s freedom and
legal systems. It will inevitably shatter the international community’s
confidence in Hong Kong.
— Article 23 is a vicious law that completely strangles Hong Kong’s
freedoms. The first to succumb will be freedom of speech and the press.
Even minor comments about the authority in power can result in a charge of
“subversion.” This will eventually make Hong Kong [people] stay
silent and cause a free harbor like Hong Kong to lose its good reputation
completely.
— Democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion and belief will be
severely damaged. Various democratic, human rights and religious
organizations are the direct targets of this anti-subversion law. Article
23 will produce large numbers of wrongful charges and lawsuits and violate
the basic interests of many Hong Kong residents.
4. Negative Impacts on Taiwan and Mainland China
Article 23 demonstrates to the world once again that China’s promises
are not reliable. When Taiwan and China interact, any promises made by
Mainland China will be further questioned. This will definitely damage the
interaction and cooperation between Taiwan and Mainland China.
Posting date: 16/Dec/2002
Original article date: 12/Dec/2002
Category: Open Forum
