US News: One country, two systems-for now

World Report 5/12/01

HONG KONG-Inside the stylish harbor-front convention center, where ceremonies four years ago celebrated the hand-over from British colonial rule, Chinese President Jiang Zemin projected an air of confidence. Beijing, he reassured international corporate leaders last week, stands by its "one-country, two-systems" pledge to preserve Hong Kong's Western-style liberties and robust capitalism.

But just outside, where demonstrators marched in the streets during the July 1997 hand-over, his words seemed less than convincing. This time, protesters were kept at a distance, herded by police into a small pen made of steel barricades. "Designated Public Activity Area," read a sign.

They weren't the only ones boxed in. The territory's government, playing host to the business conference in the hopes of attracting much needed foreign investment, was caught between its Beijing masters-who have stepped up pressure to get in line with ideological campaigns, such as the crackdown on the Falun Gong movement-and those citizens and foreign investors who fear an erosion of civil liberties.

Out of sight. Supporters of Falun Gong-banned in mainland China but legal in Hong Kong-as well as human rights activists used Jiang's visit as a moment to test the limits. The Hong Kong government tried to buy itself some wiggle room by allowing protests, but it kept them out of sight of conference participants-and Jiang. The authorities deployed 3,000 police (a thousand more than during the hand-over), and barricades blocked off the streets around the convention center. The Chinese president stayed in a local tycoon's hotel across the harbor and was ferried to the conference by boat so he would not encounter demonstrators.

More troubling, though, was the experience of 20-year-old Chinese-Australian Jamie Zhao, a Falun Gong adherent detained at the Hong Kong airport. "I went through customs and the guy stamped my passport," she recalls. "Then he scanned my mom's, and his expression changed. He pointed to the monitor and said to another official, 'Another 7-7-7 from Australia.' " Although Jamie finally was admitted after several hours' detention, her mother was deported-as were more than a hundred other foreign-passport-holding practitioners. Hong Kong insists it does not have a blacklist of Falun Gong members from other countries, but its action drew concern from the United States-as well as from Australia, Britain, and Canada-that the deportations "could have the effect of limiting freedom of association and belief and restricting the free flow of ideas."

The reality for Hong Kong is that, for the first time in 15 years, the territory must fight for foreign investment, and business leaders attending the Fortune Global Forum had some troubling developments on their minds: China's provocative handling of last month's spy plane incident as well as the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Secretary Anson Chan, the civil service head long known as a protector of Hong Kong's freedoms. "The [Hong Kong] government finds itself in a real fix," says Michael DeGolyer, a professor of politics at Hong Kong Baptist University. "The central government [in Beijing] wants it to do something, but external investors could be spooked if they see corporate freedoms coming under pressure."

The demonstrations did put the rights issue into the spotlight. Residents flooded radio call-in shows with concerns about the territory's new chief secretary, who defended the city's security measures, including the deportations. "We never thought everything would change overnight, because then China would lose face," says Martin Lee, Democratic Party leader in the elected Hong Kong Legislative Council. "But we have seen a slow but sure erosion of our freedom and rule of law."

Meanwhile, the conference-goers headed home, toting goodie bags bearing the logo and slogan of a new government organization: "Invest Hong Kong: The City That Means Business." To human rights activists, that slogan has a vaguely ominous ring.