(Clearwisdom.net) About ten scholars from the United States and the United
Kingdom of British came to Hong Kong to attend the two-day forum "Freedom and
National Security - Has the Right Balance Been Struck?" organized by the Hong
Kong Lawyers Association, Hong Kong University, and Hong Kong Civic University.
The attendees oppose Article 23, and some of them believe the proscription
mechanism should be deleted. Mr. Nicholas Howson, representing New York
City Attorneys' Association and United States Attorneys' Association The Legislation Committee discussed the "National Security Bill" today.
Representative of the Democratic Party Martin Lee, Shen Yang, Jingshen Tu, Aiyi
Wu, Huiqing Liu and others boycotted the meeting to protest the legislation and
attended the "Freedom and National Security - Has the Right Balance Been
Struck?" forum. Former Hong Kong Bar Association Chairman Alen Leong said that many
regulations in the draft legislation were beyond the scope of Article 23, and he
didn't support the legislation. Xianming Tang, representing the security
department in the forum, replied that the government saw the need of
regulations, so they were inserted into the legislation. Another scholar
contended that any given law has its own scope and cannot be extended
arbitrarily. Representative of the Justice Department Mr. James O'Neil also made a number
of blunders. When it was time for questions from the audience, Martin Lee asked
the two government officials why the draft sometimes uses "the People's Republic
of China" and sometimes uses "My Majesty". It was not just a matter of
consistency but also an insult to China. James O'Neil replied that the Hong Kong Bar Association once said it would
"rather do one thing less than do one thing more." Changing all the terms was a
big project that didn't conform to this principle. Current Chairman of the Hong
Kong Bar Association Mr. Jinsheng Chen immediately pointed out that he was
twisting the words. He said that in writing legislation the terms must be
consistent, and has nothing to do with doing more or doing less.
The forum's panel
Dr. Christopher Forsyth, Director of
International Law Center, Cambridge University, believes the proscription
mechanism should be deleted
Mr. Alan Leong emphasized several times
that Hong Kong doesn't need Article 23
Mr. Martin Lee questions government
officials on why the "National Security Bill Draft" still has the term
"Her Majesty" in it six years after the transition
Mr. Chen Jinsheng discusses legal
definitions at the forum
Posting date: 6/16/2003
Original article date: 6/15/2003
Category: Open Forum
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/6/15/52289.html