More Bad Signs for Hong Kong

Fears that China may renege on its “one China, two systems” promise when it assumes sovereignty over Hong Kong has deepened with the news that a Beijing-appointed committee proposed eliminating or changing 25 Hong Kong laws, including a bill of rights, election laws and rules allowing political parties and peaceful demonstration. Beijing’s action rattles confidence within and without Hong Kong. It will be duly noted in Washington, especially in light of the Clinton administration’s cautious attempts to improve relations with Beijing.

The changes proposed by the Preparatory Committee, the panel responsible for shifting the so-called British dependency to Chinese dominion on July 1, would reinstitute old British colonial laws meant to control political protests and to suppress independent political parties. Demonstrations in Hong Kong would have to be approved one week in advance by police, and all meetings of 20 or more people would have to formally register with the government. New laws granting voting rights to more people in Hong Kong also would be scrapped.

Hong Kong’s bill of rights was introduced in 1991 to safeguard civil liberties in the wake of Beijing’s bloody 1989 crackdown on dissidents in Tiananmen Square. Chinese officials maintain that elements of the bill of rights and other laws are void because they were passed after the 1990 adoption of the Basic Law, the Sino-British document that will serve as the constitution for Hong Kong after it rejoins China.

Hong Kong’s British governor, Chris Patten, blasted China’s proposed rollback. In London, Britain indicated that it planned a formal protest to China’s ambassador.

The proposals are expected to be formally approved by China’s National People’s Congress this summer and then be made law by the provisional legislature, the unelected body chosen by Beijing last month to eventually replace the democratically elected Hong Kong lawmakers now in office.

The provisional legislature will meet for the first time this Saturday in Shenzen, across the border from Hong Kong. The meeting will be closed to the public, no spectators allowed. Another bad sign.