U.S. Director of the Free China Movement Speaks Out Against Article 23 at Public Rally in Washington DC

Mr. Zhou Yongjun

In 1994, after Hong Kong reporter Xi Yang was charged with stealing state secrets and sentenced to 8 years in prison, I protested this charge and sentence in front of Hong Kong Xinhua News Agency on June 4th, and I warned the Hong Kong people through the media, saying: "Today, the communist regime uses its legal system to persecute Hong Kong citizens who enter Mainland China. Tomorrow, after Hong Kong's return, the communist legal system will locate in Hong Kong to persecute Hong Kong people directly, if Hong Kong's people and government always yield and give in to the central government's pressure. 'One country, two systems' is just a trick, and will be abandoned soon after Hong Kong's return." However, because I was nobody, my words were not heeded. Hong Kong newspapers just gave them a few lines. Unfortunately, eight years later, it seems that my words are only turning true.

China's communist legal system is nothing but a cruel system designed for repression. Within this system, the most notorious crime is "counter-revolutionary". To pretend to be civilized, communist China renamed the 'counter-revolutionary' crime with 'Crimes of Endangering National Security' in the 1997 version of Criminal Law, which from article 102 to article 113 says that whoever colludes, whoever organizes, whoever instigates and whoever steals, etc will be punished. Today they are devising something similar in Hong Kong, under the name of Article 23 legislation or national security legislation.

Why do dictatorships always feel insecure in the first place? The answer is that dictators mix up the two concepts of "country" and "state," and claim that anything dissenting from the authority is subverting to the country. By doing so, they deprive people the right of loving their own motherland and the right to make suggestions for the goodness of their own country. As long as those suggestions are different from the dictators' ruling, people will be charged with a crime such as subversion, sedition or secession. Ironically, all of this is done in the name of the country or "patriotism." Thus the only way to make the dictatorship feel secure and comfortable is to deny people's freedom to know, freedom to speak and freedom to believe. In such a society, we need heroes, who are strong enough to oppose these hijackers of their country, and restore virtuous peace, justice and harmony to the motherland. We need human rights defenders and freedom warriors to protect freedom in Hong Kong.

I also know that in today's society, heroes are hard to find, and the only thing that talks is money. It is true, but let's think about Shanghai for a moment. The once brightest pearl in the Far East lost all its vibrancy ever since communists took power in Mainland China. After almost 40 years' stasis, Shanghai is still struggling to restore yesterday's splendor on a rather unhealthy and unstable basis of rule of law. We all know the key for Hong Kong's prosperity is based on an open and free society with a sound legal system that is not found anywhere in China. Without it, Hong Kong's future is certainly at stake.

Then, why is the communist regime so eager to do this only five years after the handover? It is an open secrete that Hong Kong's government is pressured by Beijing to target some groups in Hong Kong that it doesn't like, especially to target Falun Gong practitioners and others who are trying to be good, even at the extremely high cost of the freedom and future of seven million Hong Kong people. How can we not say something or do something to help?

Silence is not neutral, especially when evil is happening right in front of us. I thank you, each of you, for being with us today. Let's work together for Hong Kong's future: it will be the future of every one of us.

We should not let the Communist China change the free world; we must do something to change China.

Stop Article 23!

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