National Business Review (New Zealand): NZ government condems HK anti-sedition law

July 3, 2003

One in fourteen residents of Hong Kong, about half a million people, took to the streets yesterday, protesting a new anti-sedition law that was today condemned by the New Zealand government.

European governments and the United States had already expressed grave reservations about the pending legislation and today Foreign Minister Phil Goff added New Zealand's voice to a growing international chorus urging the Hong Kong government to reject the mainland-sponsored law when it comes up before the legislature on 9 July.

"When Hong Kong was reunified with China in 1997, it was given a special status enshrined in the Basic Law's principle of one country, two systems. This was seen as a guarantee of the territory's autonomy and protection of human and civil rights," Mr Goff said.

"However legislation currently before Hong Kong Legislative Council dealing with treason, sedition, succession and subversion, as mandated under Article 23 of the Basic Law, could put those rights at risk.

"In particular, section 8A of the legislation creates concerns. This enables the Hong Kong government to proscribe or ban organisations that are banned on the mainland.

"Fears have been raised that this may lead to the banning of organisations such as Falun Gong, which is outlawed in the Peoples' Republic of China.

"There are also concerns that the legislation provides no public interest defence to protect freedom of expression and the press," Mr Goff said in a statement.

"New Zealand urges the Legislative Council to adopt amendments to address these concerns before the legislation is passed into law.

"This would alleviate fears that the principle of one country, two systems is being eroded and that the freedom of association and expression may be at risk," Mr Goff said.

Yesterday's protest march was scheduled for 3 pm, Hong Kong time, just after China's premier, Wen Jiabao, was slated to return to the mainland after a three day visit.

Organisers had estimated 100,000 people would take part, but the final tally was five times that.

Early in the day, some protesters jumped barricades to set a Communist China flag alight only a few hundred metres from the convention centre where the premier was meeting with Hong Kong lawmakers and leaders in the business community. He was unaware of the incident, reports say.

The march was timed to coincide with two important anniversaries: the sixth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China and the 82nd birthday of China's Communist Party.

At issue is a law framed to provide anti-sedition powers to the Hong Kong government.

Even though the premier and other top officials made a point of stressing in recent days that, even with the new law in place, they intend to continue the "one country, two systems" policies that currently guarantee Hong Kong a relative degree of autonomy, few observers doubt the move is designed to bring the sometimes turbulent Hong Kong political scene into line.

The EU has said it is extremely concerned about the ramifications of the law, which will allow the Secretary for Security to ban Hong Kong-based organisations proscribed in the mainland on grounds of national security.

The proposed national security law bans treason, sedition, theft of state secrets and subversion. Hong Kong is required to pass the law under Article 23 of the Basic Law - its mini-constitution - and opponents say it could curb freedom of speech and the free flow of information, both of which have been part of the special administrative region's tradition for the last 50 years.

The proposed law would jail violators for life and allows closed door trials in reaching verdicts. The law also expands the search powers of police, granting them the right to conduct searches without warrants.

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http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=6377&cid=5&cname=Asia

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