By Longyan

(Clearwisdom.net)

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.

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.

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.

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: 12/13/2002
Original article date: 12/12/2002
Category: Open Forum
Translated on 12/11/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/12/9/40651.html

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