December 26, 2002

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 [...], 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.

[...]

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.

[...]

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: 12/27/2002
Original article date: 12/26/2002
Category: News & Media Reports

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