HONG KONG (AP) — Five years after Hong Kong’s return to China, its
capitalists are still capitalists and its freedoms are largely intact. But
critics say a planned anti-subversion law is posing the worst threat yet to
those liberties.
The legislation is supposed to protect national security, but pro-democracy
politicians, human rights campaigners and others say Hong Kong’s civil
rights and credibility as a financial hub are at stake.
“In China, similar subversion laws are regularly used to convict and
imprison journalists, labor activists, Internet entrepreneurs and
academics,” Brad Adams, the Asia executive director of Human Rights Watch,
wrote in an open letter to Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s government leader.
The issue has exploded into Hong Kong’s biggest political battle since the
last months of British rule in 1997, when many were predicting a crackdown
on free speech and politics. No such crackdown materialized, but what seems
ominous to some is that while the Hong Kong government is saying it wants to
consult the public about the law, Beijing’s top representative here, Gao
Siren, has said the protests will have no effect.
Opponents accuse Beijing of pressuring Hong Kong.
“It’s a serious breach of one country, two systems,” said opposition
lawmaker Cyd Ho, referring to the government arrangement established when
Hong Kong rejoined China on July 1, 1997, with guarantees of its freedoms
and autonomy.
Hong Kong’s government insists constitutional protections of free speech,
media and religion are inviolate, but many here fear the new law could be
used to muzzle dissidents and bring the tiny territory more tightly under
Beijing’s thumb.
“Perhaps they will use it against a few people to silence the whole
community,” said Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights
Monitor.
The law is to give police broader powers to investigate crimes against the
state, some of them carrying up to life in prison. But the problem is, the
public hasn’t seen a draft text of the law, and until it’s published, U.S.
Consul General James Keith said last week, “it will be hard to either
confirm or dismiss worst-case scenarios.”
Some predict officials will target the Falun Gong meditation sect, outlawed
in mainland China … but still free to practice in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong officials said that won’t happen, and both Tung and Secretary for
Security Regina Ip insist that once the law takes effect it will be clear
that freedoms are not under threat.
But the United States, Britain and Canada are among the nations raising
questions, and many here doubt the “trust me” approach.
“Talk is baseless,” said Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu. “It’s not legally
binding.”
Journalists fear charges of stealing state secrets could be applied to any
publication of information that hasn’t been officially released. Some
executives are concerned they could get in trouble for doing business with
Taiwanese companies whose bosses advocate formal independence from China —
a concept that Beijing regards as secession.
Other business people worry about the free flow of financial information —
crucial to Hong Kong as a market center.
Some analysts say Hong Kong’s 6.8 million people are being dangerously
split.
Demonstrations by both sides have drawn crowds in numbers rivaled only by
the annual commemorations of the 1989 bloodshed at Tiananmen Square in
Beijing.
Pro-Beijing forces seem to be asserting themselves by calling for national
unity and suggesting that to oppose the law is unpatriotic. A rally Sunday
of tens of thousands of people was full of nationalistic appeals for the
legislation. One red banner said: “Why don’t you support the law if you are
not subverting the country?”
Under the terms of the change of sovereignty, Hong Kong is legally required
to enact anti-subversion legislation banning treason, sedition, secession,
theft of state secrets, activities by foreign political groups and ties
between such groups and their Hong Kong counterparts.
The Hong Kong government has issued a paper soliciting public views on the
new law, and plans to pass it by July.
Ma Lik, a prominent pro-Beijing politician, says many opponents of the law
are the same people who raised alarms about the Chinese People’s Liberation
Army marching in after the handover and throwing its weight around.
In fact, the troops have stayed discreetly inside their barracks, while Hong
Kong has buzzed along with its capitalist ways, freewheeling press and
frequent protests, he said.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ax/Ahong-kong-subversion.Rv6V_CDQ.html
Posting date: 27/Dec/2002
Original article date: 26/Dec/2002
Category: Media Report
