2002-10-4
Proposed
anti-subversion law is no piece of fiction for
Albert Cheng King-ho (broadcaster and
publisher)
In the eyes of officials in charge of security, the public is
incapable of intelligent debate. Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee obviously thinks
so. And so does acting Permanent Secretary for Security
Timothy Tong Hin-ming.
The government has decided not to let Secretary for Justice Elsie
Leung Oi-sie, who has a low popularity rating, lead
the campaign. Instead, Mrs Ip
has assumed the role of chief spokesperson and is confident of getting the
public to accept the Article 23 proposals.
Initially, she excelled in her public relations battles. But
apparently dizzy with success, Mrs Ip appeared arrogant when she took the government's case to
Legco three days after the consultation document was
released.
She said she remained unconvinced there was a need for a so-called
''white bill'' for further public debate, before presenting a blue bill to
initiate the legislative process. ''Will taxi drivers, Chinese restaurant
waiters, service staff at McDonald's hold a copy [of the white bill] to debate with
me article by article? In the final analysis, pragmatically speaking, only
experts will read the bill,'' she said. Her remarks were full of bigotry. The
implementation of Article 23 will affect everybody. Public participation and
public opinion must be respected. Even if a member of the working class does
not bother to confront Mrs Ip
with a copy of the white bill line by line, it does not mean they should be
denied the right to do so.
Mr Tong, on the
other hand, appeared in RTHK's City Forum last
Sunday. Instead of conducting a sensible discussion, he referred to Louis Cha
Leung-yung's 1972 kung fu novel, The Deer and the
Cauldron. Mr Tong cited the case of the book's
rebellious group, Heaven and Earth Society, and imagined how it would be
treated under the proposed law. He created the impression of having to resort
to such an extraneous analogy because the public was unable to follow his
substantive points. It was an insult to the public's intelligence.
Meanwhile, only the democratic camp took officials to task at the Legco session. In contrast, the Liberal Party, the Hong
Kong Progressive Alliance, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong,
and the so-called Breakfast Group, all remained silent. It is a major
dereliction of their duties as elected representatives of the people.
The current consultation document is only an outline of the legal
concepts and principles. It is in essence a waste of time. It is hardly
controversial that provisions are needed to protect the sovereign state from
treason, sedition and secession. The real worry centres
on whether the future law will contain any unreasonable intrusion into civil
liberties. Until and unless the exact wording of the bill is available, there
is no way to tell whether there are any traps and loopholes. That is why the
Democratic Party has demanded a white bill be prepared for consultation after
the current three-month discussion on the concepts and broad principles. To
take a step back, there are several major shortfalls even with the current
vague consultation document.
First, sections 7.15 and 7.16 of the paper assert that: ''The HKSAR
may not be in a position to determine whether an organisation
poses a threat to national security ... Therefore ... we should defer to the
decision of the central authorities based on the comprehensive information that
it possesses.'' This is a clear extension of mainland legal measures into our
system. Given the mainland track record, there are reasons to be alarmed.
Second, sections 4.16 to 4.18 recommend that ''if someone prints a
publication for some other reasons, such as profit, while being fully aware
that the publication would incite offences that endanger national security, we
believe that such dealings should also be suitably regarded as criminal acts.''
Here, it is unfair to put the onus on a person to distinguish what publications
are likely to endanger national security. This may turn out to be a threat to
freedom of expression.
Third, Section 2.14 states that misprision of treason is ''committed
when a person knows that another person has committed treason but omits to disclose
this to the proper authority within a reasonable time. In view of the possible
severe consequences of such suppression of information to national security and
to provide for more certainty as regards what constitutes the `proper
authority', we propose to make misprision of treason a statutory offence''.
During the Cultural Revolution, street committees were organised
to spy on neighbours. A similar intrusive culture
might start to take root in
If the authorities are sincere about consulting the public, a white
bill should be issued as soon as possible to ensure that the public can have a
proper chance to comment on the many issues arising from the present general
consultation document. The matter is so crucial that it should not be decided
by a few aloof bureaucrats.