By an Epoch Times reporter in Germany

(Clearwisdom.net) The European branch of the Global Coalition Against Article 23 legislation gathered in Frankfurt to protest against the enactment of Article 23 in Hong Kong.

This protest activity received support from many non-governmental organizations, including student associations from across Germany, democratic rights associations and Taiwanese associations from various locations. A statement was read [at the activity] that was co-signed by around thirty different Chinese associations stating, "The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the People's Republic of China cannot be directly elected by the general public, neither are all of the Legislative Council Committees elected by the general public, and the final appeal of the Legislative Council is controlled by the China People's General Committee. Consequently, due to the lack of effective supervision, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region hurriedly pushed forward the enactment of Article 23, which will severely threaten the basic freedom of thought, belief, news, and assembly, and will cause the "one country, two systems" agreement in Hong Kong to exist in name only."

A member of the German Youth Civil Servants Association against Article 23 read out the statement, entitled "Defend human rights in Hong Kong", to the public. It stated that the German Youth Civil Servant Association supports the new proposal made by the European Parliament. It strongly requested that the Hong Kong Government maintain the basic rights of its citizens and fulfill its obligation to its citizens in the areas of finance, society and culture. It also requested that the Hong Kong government follows the conventions of the United Nations agreement and realigns its present laws to follow these conventions rather than limiting Hong Kong people's freedom in the name of public security.

Article from: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200212/9077.html

Posting date: 12/26/2002
Original article date: 12/26/2002
Category: News & Media Reports
Chinese version available at http://yuanming.net/articles/200212/15535.html

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