October 11, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) HONG KONG The recent cave-in by Hong Kong to pressure from Beijing to enact laws against subversion, sedition, secession and theft of state secrets was hardly a surprise. Hong Kong and Chinese government officials have been threatening to do this since Hong Kong's 1997 handover from Britain to China. But the muted response from key governments was surprising and disappointing.
[...]
The U.S. State Department issued a cautious statement, welcoming the three-month
public consultation period before new laws are adopted, and expressing hope that
the legislation would be "consistent with international human rights standards"
and the United Nations human rights treaty to which Hong Kong is a party.
By contrast, civil rights advocates and members of Hong Kong's Legislative
Council have been vigorous in criticism of the proposal unveiled by Ip. [...]
But many have objected to key provisions in the consultation document,
including proposals to give the police broad new search powers, prohibit groups
in Hong Kong from giving support to organizations proscribed under Chinese law
for "endangering state security," and criminalize as state secrets (with a
five-year prison term) exposure of information on relations between China and
Hong Kong.
The document defines treason or attempts to overthrow mainland China's system of
government not only in terms of acts of violence but also of "other serious
unlawful means," leaving open major potential loopholes. The proposed law would
reach Hong Kong permanent residents abroad. So, hypothetically, the Hong Kong
government could prosecute someone in Hong Kong for bringing funds to support
pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing, as happened during the protests in 1989.
It would also reach foreigners for their acts while in Hong Kong.
Some safeguards are built in, such as review by the Hong Kong courts of
decisions to declare foreign political organizations illegal because they are
"harmful to national security or unity." But, given Beijing's demonstrated
willingness to interfere with Hong Kong's judicial system, how effective would
such safeguards be?
The U.S. State Department's most recent report under the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy
Act noted concern about the authority of the Court of Final Appeal being
undermined by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in
Beijing when it chooses to "reinterpret" certain sensitive court decisions. Is
there any doubt that Beijing would intervene again (as it is allowed to do under
the Basic Law) if it felt that Hong Kong's courts were not vigorously applying
the new laws on subversion and secession? [...]
Autonomy under the "one country, two systems" formula must be strongly defended.
The United States, the EU, Canada, Japan, Australia and others should speak up,
privately and publicly, to support full protection of Hong Kong's civil and
political rights.
The writer is Washington director for Asia at Human Rights Watch. He contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.
http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=73335
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