Apple Daily: Media Workers Around the World Oppose Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law

(Clearwisdom.net) The Apple Daily on November 25, 2002 reported that 26 international media organizations representing 155 countries and at least 500,000 media workers signed a joint announcement addressed to Liu Shuyi, the head of the Security Bureau of Hong Kong, in which they clearly stated the drawbacks of Article 23 of the Basic Law. Two local journalist organizations also received nearly 900 letters signed by news workers in opposition to Article 23 of the Basic Law, which amounts to 40% of all Hong Kong news reporters.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association announced yesterday that their previously launched international opposition movement against Article 23 of the Basic Law has gained support from 26 international media and other organizations that support freedom of speech. Among these, 19 organizations agreed to sign a joint letter, including the international journalists' organization, which represents 450,000 news workers around the world, the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editor's Forum, which represent 18,000 newspapers. These organizations represent a total of at least 500,000 media workers and supporters of the freedom of speech.

Moreover, the Hong Kong Journalists' Association and Hong Kong Photojournalists' Association collected 879 signatures in one week opposing the establishment of Article 23 of the Basic Law.

Mai Yanting, president of the Journalists' Association, said that such a large-scale joint movement in opposition to a law is quite rare. She hoped that the government would accept their opinions to avoid affecting Hong Kong's status as an information center of the world. She also urged the government to abide by the Johannesburg Principles when proposing laws involving national security such as treason and sedition, which means the government should only forbid speech that is likely to lead to immediate violence and threaten national security, instead of punishing people for their opinions. The Journalist's Association will invite Frances D'Souza, one of the initiators of the Johannesburg Principles, to Hong Kong for a discussion.

Xian Weiqiang, associate president of the Photojournalists' Association, said there is an obscure line with respect to sedition and treason, and news workers could [unconsciously] violate the law at any time.

[Note: the Chinese names above are all translated according to the way they are spelled in Mainland China, which is slightly different with what is used in Hong Kong]

The Apple Daily is a leading newspaper based in Hong Kong.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/11/25/40023.html

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