By Tyler Marshall in Hong Kong

February 15 2003

The Hong Kong Government has unveiled a long-awaited anti-subversion bill that opponents fear could threaten democratic freedoms.

In response to heavy public criticism, the draft bill sets slightly narrower grounds for the filing of charges such as sedition, secession and treason than envisioned.

But it still contains many provisions that were denounced by democracy and human rights advocates and the Hong Kong Bar Association on Thursday as limiting the freedoms of speech and assembly.

When Hong Kong reverted from Britain to China in 1997 its existing freedoms were protected under a formula known as "one country, two systems".

The bill was presented at a news conference by the Secretary for Security, Regina Ip, after five months of heated debate on proposals for a new law - a debate dominated by fierce resistance from human rights and civil-liberties activists.

The Government said it planned to submit the draft to the Legislative Council on February 26 under an accelerated procedure that curtails the time allowed for arguments. With Government-appointed legislators holding 36 of the council's 60 seats, passage is virtually assured.

Ms Ip said the Government had received more than 100,000 comments and suggestions and the draft took into account many of the concerns.

The legislation would give the Government broad powers to ban local organisations if they are controlled or substantially financed by groups on the mainland that have been banned by Beijing.

It would become a crime to distribute a "seditious" publication advocating treason, subversion or sedition, a category that appears to include the encouragement of violent action to help Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.

The proposed law would provide extensive protection against the publication of unauthorised information about Hong Kong government activities that are overseen directly by Beijing. If journalists or academics publish unauthorised information, they will not be allowed to use the argument in court that publication was in the public interest.

The changes from the initial draft appear to have appeased Hong Kong's powerful business interests, some of which had initially joined democracy activists in opposing the legislation.

Among other changes, the Government decided to exempt foreign nationals from treason charges, a move to reassure several hundred thousand affluent residents who have obtained citizenship elsewhere, most often Britain or Canada, as a precaution against a clampdown by Beijing.

Eden Woon, chief executive of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber would have preferred a less hurried legislative process.

Critics see the proposed law as part of a thinly concealed Beijing-led conspiracy to stifle free speech in Hong Kong and stamp out organisations in the region that are banned in mainland China - such as the Falun Gong spiritual group.

Los Angeles Times, The New York Times

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/14/1044927805342.html

Posting date: 2/16/2003
Original article date: 2/15/2003
Category: News & Media Reports

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