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.
[...]
