Associated Press Worldstream: British official lashes out at Hong Kong's planned anti-subversion law

June 30, 2003 Monday

By: MARGARET WONG; Associated Press Writer

A top British official criticized a planned anti-subversion law, saying Monday it would blur the distinction between the legal systems of Hong Kong and mainland China.

Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said parts of the bill go against the "one country, two systems" arrangement that guaranteed Western-style civil liberties in Hong Kong after Britain returned this former colony to China six years ago.

In a statement from London, Rammell questioned provisions that would authorize Hong Kong to outlaw local organizations subordinate to groups that the mainland has banned on national security grounds, saying that would "blur the dividing line between the two autonomous legal systems."

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The European Union on Monday also criticized the anti-subversion law, warning it could compromise the territory's autonomy from China.

"These proposals, if implemented, would blur the line between the Hong Kong and mainland legal systems and could undermine Hong Kong's autonomy," said an EU statement issued in Greece, which currently holds the EU's presidency.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to join a protest of the bill on Tuesday, the sixth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China on July 1, 1997. Many here fear the law - required under Hong Kong's mini-constitution - will lead to suppression of free speech and assembly rights.

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The bill - expected to be enacted into law in a few days - will provide life prison sentences for some crimes against the state.

Rammell's comments follow a recent 426-1 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives that voiced worries about the bill and a statement of concern from the White House.

Many critics believe Hong Kong will use the law to ban Falun Gong, the meditation group outlawed in mainland China, but which is thus far free to practice, and protest, in Hong Kong.

About 150 Falun Gong members in Hong Kong staged a peaceful protest against the anti-subversion bill on Monday.

"We believe the law will not be used only against us, but targeted at many other people," said spokesman Kan Hung-cheung. "It won't be good for Hong Kong's future."