Associated Press
Originally published September 15, 2002

HONG KONG - The justice minister said Friday it was time the former British colony enacted an anti-subversion law - a measure critics fear could crush the freedoms that make the financial powerhouse a vastly different place from mainland China.

Human rights activists said freedoms of speech and press will be severely tested. Many worry Hong Kong will use the law to go after Falun Gong, the meditation [group] that has been outlawed as [...] in mainland China but is allowed to practice, and protest, in Hong Kong.

'Why do we need it?' asked Martin Lee, head of the Democratic Party and seen as Hong Kong's top opposition figure. 'Nobody's clamoring for independence [from China].'

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The Hong Kong government has sought to calm public worries, insisting the law will not be used to target individuals or groups and promising a full public consultation before it is enacted.

But many here have their doubts, fearing a further erosion of the civil liberties guaranteed under Hong Kong's unusual government arrangement, dubbed 'one country, two systems,' that recognizes China's sovereignty while granting considerable local autonomy so Hong Kong can carry on with its free-wheeling capitalistic ways.

Several newspapers reported Friday that under the anti-subversion law, members of the news media could be charged with sedition for repeatedly publishing articles attacking the central government or promoting cessation from China.

The reports said the news media would be allowed to cover things that might infuriate Beijing, such as remarks from Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on independence, but the repeated reporting of such comments could be an offense.

Independent lawmaker Margaret Ng said the proposal 'sounds demented.'

'What is something that is not a crime when you do it once, but it is a crime when you do it often enough?' Ng said by telephone. 'It could create forbidden topics, the independence movement in Taiwan, the Tibetans and so forth, certain things you cannot talk about and other areas where you have to watch the fine line.'

Independence for Taiwan, although it has been governed separately from China since 1949, or for Tibet is viewed by Beijing as political heresy.

When Hong Kong rejoined China on July 1, 1997, it began operating under a mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, which guarantees its freedoms for at least 50 years.

But pro-democracy figures have long feared the Basic Law's Article 23, which says Hong Kong must 'enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the central people's government or theft of state secrets.'

Hong Kong has frequent protests, many calling for democracy in China or an end to Beijing's persecution of Falun Gong, but most are small and peaceful.

'If the law is intended to find those who say things against Beijing guilty, Hong Kong will be no different from any other mainland Chinese city,' said Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor.

Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung thinks his group will be targeted, and he warned 'every Hong Kong resident will be affected and face the threat of being persecuted.'

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