23 December 2002
Office of the Chief Executive Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
5/F, Central Government Offices, Main Wing, Lower Albert Road,
Hong Kong
Dear Mr Tung,
For 145 years, Hong Kong thrived under British rule. One of the main reasons for the success of Hong Kong was the many freedoms allowed the Hong Kong people by British Law -- the people of Hong Kong were allowed the freedom to believe and practice what they wanted, the freedom to speak out against what they felt was wrong, the freedom to associate with whom they chose, freedom of the press and the list goes on. In 1997, when the British handed Hong Kong back to Mainland China, there was an agreement to have "one country, two policies" in place for 50 years. This is now very much under threat by Article 23.
In 1984, a Joint Declaration was signed by the British Government and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). This established the Hong Kong area as a region of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), with its own constitution and administration. The Joint Declaration is an international treaty registered with the United Nations.
The Joint Declaration specifies that the existing laws in Hong Kong will be modified only if they contravene the new constitution of the HKSAR. This was developed by the National People's Congress, and is known as the Basic Law.
The Joint Declaration promised "that the socialist system and socialist policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and that Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and lifestyle shall remain unchanged for 50 years." (Joint Declaration Annex 1: 1).
The most important parts of Hong Kong's new constitution regarding freedom of speech are Articles 23 and 39 of the Basic Law, and Section 3 (5) of the Joint Declaration. Article 39 states:
The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and international labour conventions as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Basic Law of HKSAR: Article 39).
The relevant section of Section 3 (5) of the Joint Declaration is derived from Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):
The current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged, and so will the lifestyle. Rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief, will be ensured by law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Joint Declaration: Section 3 (5)).
All of this is now under siege by Article 23, especially since your government seems unwilling to publish a white paper to clarify the exact nature of the proposed new laws. Perhaps most at risk are groups like Falun Gong. We believe Falun Gong practitioners are one of the main targets of this law. All the Mainland Chinese regime has to do is declare Falun Gong a threat to the safety or stability of the government to have it outlawed in Hong Kong. The Mainland regime has already created many slanderous labels to turn the people against Falun Gong and this next step is not at all farfetched. Its unwarranted brutal and deadly persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners shows the lengths the Mainland regime is willing to go in its attempt to eradicate Falun Gong.
The Falun Dafa Association of Queensland Inc, Australia, representing the hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners in Queensland, opposes the enactment of Article 23 legislation and calls for a white paper and further public consultation on this issue. Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents marched in opposition to this legislation and dozens of Hong Kong and international organisations, from the Bishop of Hong Kong to media to bankers to businessmen to human rights organisations, etc, have voiced their opposition to this legislation. Freedom of belief and practice are cornerstones of all free societies and are the very glue that keeps them from totally unravelling. World opinion and the voice of Hong Kong's people cannot be brushed aside. Hong Kong must operate under recognised international standards and protect the rights of its people.
Yours sincerely
Falun Dafa Association of Queensland
On behalf of all Queensland, Australia Falun Gong
practitioners