Canadian MP and NGO Coalition Join the Global Campaign Opposing the HK Government's Legislation of Article 23

(Clearwisdom.net) December 13, 2002, Ottawa -- Mr. Stockwell Day, MP, Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International, Cheuk Kwan, Chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, along with the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, held a joint press conference. The group is joining a global campaign that opposes the Hong Kong government's proposal to implement an anti-subversion law. They called on the Canadian Government to speak out against the enactment of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law before the consultation period expires on December 24.

Background:

On September 24, 2002, the government of Hong Kong published a consultation document containing a proposal to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law. The legislation deals with the offences of treason, secession, sedition, and subversion against the central government in Beijing and the prohibition of the theft of state secrets and political activities by foreign political organizations in Hong Kong.

The proposal has provoked widespread and strong opposition from key figures in the legal, political, human rights, religious, media, financial, and other communities in Hong Kong and around the world.

Please see http://www.article23.org.hk/english/main.htm

Article 23 was added to the Basic Law after China's Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, which prompted fear in Chinese leaders that the same thing could happen in Hong Kong where they would not be able to suppress it so easily. The birth of Article 23 goes against the Basic Law's principle of protecting the rule of law and other fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong. Also, existing laws already cover offences that may threaten national security.

"The implementation of Article 23 of the Basic Law is possibly the most important issue since the return of Hong Kong to Chinese Sovereignty for defining the future direction of fundamental freedoms and the concept of 'One Country, Two System'." "The current government proposals are vague and ill-defined, contrary to international law and standards" --- Amnesty International, December 9, 2002.

In essence, the law would mean China's totalitarian control and human rights abuses could be imported en bloc into Hong Kong.

"Anti-subversion legislation will turn the freewheeling city into a police state," said Frances D'Souza, co-author of the Johannesburg Principles on human rights, drafted in 1995 to protect individual rights and freedom of expression in the context of national security laws.

The US, UK, and New Zealand governments have already expressed concern over the enactment of Article 23.