By a Dafa practitioner in Hong Kong

(Clearwisdom.net) Around June 4, 1989, nearly a million Hong Kong citizens walked into the streets to support the democratic movement in China. Soon after, the central government of Mainland China added a policy to the draft of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Constitution, that the Hong Kong government can establish a law against subversion, which is Article 23. At that time, some people in legal circles opposed it and claimed Article 23 does not conform to the democratic climate and spirit of freedom in Hong Kong.

The final draft of Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, published in April 1990, is as below:

"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies."

In fact, there are enough articles in the existing Basic Law that can be used to deal with any possible sign of sedition and subversion. In September this year, the Hong Kong government hastily demanded the founding of laws according to Article 23, and it didn't even publish the details of these laws except the skeleton of Article 23. There was only three months of consulting period, and there was no consulting period in Macao at all and it became law directly.

If we take a careful look at the consulting documents of Article 23, we see it is filled with malicious intention. With orders from the central government, related officials tried to cook it up as quickly as possible and made it vague, in order to win favor with Jiang's regime. For example:

1. These laws state that any branch organizations that are part of an organization banned by the Chinese government under state security reasons can be banned in Hong Kong at any time, and the Hong Kong government does not have to conduct any independent investigation.
2. These laws also deliberately exchanged and confused the concepts of government and nation. In a democratic and free country, citizens have the right to monitor and check the government, whereas Article 23 state that opposing the government is opposing the nation.
3. Article 23 grants too much power to the police. For instance, it allows the police to enter residential buildings and arrest people at any time without court warrants and evidence. The police's suspicion is evidence.
4. Any speech deemed as instigative can be regarded as illegal, including oral, written and electronic forms; people who express, hear and fail to report such speech are regarded as guilty by this law.
5. Permanent residents of Hong Kong are under the power of this law no matter where he (she) is. If they violate Article 23, they can be extradited back to Hong Kong; people who are in Hong Kong are all under the power of Article 23, regardless of nationality, including people who transit and visit Hong Kong. Minor violations of Article 23 can result in seven-year jail sentence, and serious violation leads to life term in prison.

Jiang and Luo's group have always seen Falun Gong in Hong Kong as a thorn in their sides. In March this year, during the two meetings of People's Congress and People's Political Consultative Conference in China, the representatives from Hong Kong were forced to promise that Hong Kong government would take a series of actions to ban Falun Gong. Jiang and Luo's criminal group mainly wanted to ban Falun Gong in Hong Kong with Article 23; however, Article 23 is aimed not only at Falun Gong, but also at human rights and democracy in Hong Kong. It can be said that in order to persecute Falun Gong, Jiang's group wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice the future of seven million people in Hong Kong.

The promotion of Article 23 has irked the citizens of Hong Kong and people who care about the future of Hong Kong. Recently, people from all walks of Hong Kong's society held successive protests. Over thirty civic organizations founded a human rights front and collected signatures all over Hong Kong. They will also hold a large parade across Hong Kong on December 15. In fact, the joint announcement by the Chinese government and the U. K. at the handover of the colony to China demanded there should be no change in the Hong Kong Basic Law, and Western countries including the U.S. and European countries supported the joint announcement. Therefore, all concerned countries have a responsibility to pay attention to the establishment of Article 23.

As Dafa practitioners, we must clearly realize that only Dafa practitioners can participate in Fa-rectification, and everyday people's efforts are not the true determining factors. Therefore, Dafa practitioners cannot relax themselves on the issue of Article 23 simply because others have taken actions. Article 23 is directly against Dafa. The old forces are manipulating the disgrace of the human world using its desires, so we should use it as an opportunity to clarify the truth. We should study the Fa even more diligently and send forth righteous thoughts. Based on this solid foundation, we should make good use of our time to clarify the truth, deeply and thoroughly, to carry out our mission of Fa-rectification.

If all Dafa practitioners in the world can realize the conspiracy behind Article 23 and grasp the time to clarify the truth with rationality, wisdom, and benevolence, from different perspectives and different levels, then the evil will certainly be thwarted.

Moreover, the people working for the Hong Kong government should also have a chance to be offered salvation and be treated with kindness by Dafa practitioners. We clarify the truth for their own good instead of gaining something for ourselves; therefore, during our contact with all people, including Hong Kong government officials, we should strictly remember to conduct ourselves according to our xinxing and let Dafa's benevolence and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" manifest themselves to people through every one of our words and actions. Let more people be benevolently changed through us by the truth about Dafa, so that they will be sincerely willing to make a rational decision for the future of Hong Kong and themselves.

Fellow practitioners, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

Posting date: 12/9/2002
Original article date: 12/9/2002
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 12/7/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/12/7/40595.html

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