HONG KONG, July 7 (AFP) – Hong Kong’s government bowed to mounting pressure Monday and announced it would shelve a controversial new law which sparked huge protests on the city’s streets last week.
More than 500,000 people marched against the proposed legislation on July 1 in Hong Kong’s biggest demonstration in more than a decade, as calls grew for the anti-subversion legislation to be delayed for further public consultation.
Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa said on Saturday his government still planned to press ahead with the final reading of the bill on Wednesday after making three major amendments.
But the resignation of the pro-government Liberal Party’s leader James Tien from the cabinet and a withdrawal of support for the bill late Sunday left Tung’s plans in disarray.
“In light of the position of the Liberal Party, we have decided, after detailed deliberations, to defer the resumption of the second reading of the bill and to step up our efforts to explain the amendments to the community in the coming days,” Tung said in a statement early Monday.
Tung did not say when the proposed law — which critics have said will erode political freedoms and curb free speech in Hong Kong — would be resubmitted.
Tien told reporters later that he had been left with “no choice but to resign” from Tung’s cabinet since he could not agree with the government’s timetable on the legislation.
The embarrassing climb-down led to calls from politicians and analysts for the resignation of the unpopular Tung, appointed by Beijing to run Hong Kong following the 1997 handover from British rule.
Allen Lee, former chairman of the pro-Beijing Liberal Party and Hong Kong representative to China’s National People’s Congress, said the crisis represented a “fatal blow” to Tung’s government.
“He (Tung) has lost control of his cabinet,” Lee said. “It’s not only a crisis, Tung is unable to govern,” he added.
Pro-democracy groups echoed Lee’s remarks.
Legislator Yeung Sum, Democratic Party leader, said “a governance crisis has emerged and Tung should consider if he should continue to stay in power.”
Tung and other senior officials were tight-lipped when they appeared at work on Monday.
Justice secretary Elsie Leung, however, said the government would “continue to listen to views as well as explaining” the bill to the people.
Henry Fok, vice-chairman of China’s consultative body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said the decision to postpone the vote would not hurt Tung.
“I don’t see how the deferral can affect the government,” Fok said.
Hong Kong is required, under the terms of Article 23 of the constitution set after its return to China in 1997, to enact a national security law banning treason, sedition, subversion and the theft of state secrets.
Critics are concerned China’s communist leaders could use the law to suppress freedoms, stifle reporting of official abuses, prevent protests against the government and block access to legal representation.
The concessions announced on Saturday would notably see the removal of a provision enabling authorities to proscribe organisations banned in China, including the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
A provision giving police the power to conduct searches without warrants in national security investigations was also to be struck from the bill, while public interest was to be included as a valid defence for the unlawful disclosure of “certain official information”.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/av/Qhhongkong-subversion.RoZD_Dl6.html
Posting date: 9/July/2003
Original article date: 7/July/2003
Category: Media Report
