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Pro-democracy activists protest in Hong Kong
January 27, 1997
Web posted at: 10:15 p.m. EST (0315 GMT)In this story:
- Patten warns against jailing journalists
- Helms opposes 'shadow' legislature
- Hand-over plans snagged on troop arrival
- Related stories and sites
HONG KONG (CNN) -- Pro-democracy activists protested in front of China's political headquarters in Hong Kong Monday, and Governor Chris Patten voiced his concerns about the threat to personal freedom when China takes over later this year. (22 sec. /864K QuickTime movie)
About 20 members of a Hong Kong alliance supporting China's beleaguered democracy movement organized the protest, voicing fears that dissidents might be jailed after the British colony reverts to China on July 1.
With shouts of "Set free the dissidents," they waved a banner with the slogan "Oppose Chinese communists jailing dissidents" as police looked on.
The protest came in response to reports from China Saturday that five dissidents had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years for subversion, and at least eight others had been arrested, in Guiyang, capital of southern Guizhou province.
The dissidents had been accused of counter-revolutionary activities linked to their pro-democracy campaigning.
"We are afraid that our freedoms and liberties will be infringed in the future," said activist Andrew To, who led the protest outside the Xinhua News Agency office, China's de facto embassy in Hong Kong.
Patten warns against jailing journalists
Another organizer, Lau Shan-Ching, noted that the moves against dissidents coincided with Beijing's release last weekend of a Hong Kong journalist, Xi Yang.
"We see China release Xi Yang, but then we see China has arrested 13 dissidents," Lau said. "So we see China does not change its attitude on human rights. After the hand-over there may be some dissidents in Hong Kong put into jail."
Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten also sniped at Beijing Monday over the release of journalist Xi, who served three years of a 12-year sentence on charges of spying.
"We have our own system," Patten said, "and journalists in our system are not put in prison for embarrassing the government by revealing things the government might not wish to have revealed. The important thing is that our system, under which journalists can write without fear or favor, should continue."
Adding fuel to this concern was word last week that a panel controlled by Beijing listed a string of laws it thinks should be repealed. Among them are parts of the Bill of Rights and two Hong Kong laws that allow political demonstrations and the free association of groups such as political parties.
Helms opposes 'shadow' legislature
That information earned China rebukes from Britain, the United States and pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong.
There is also concern that China plans to scrap Hong Kong's elected legislature, possibly to replace it with a 60-member "shadow" legislature now operating across the border in Shenzhen.
An aide to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms said Monday the senator is considering introducing a bill to ban Hong Kong's provisional legislature from visiting the United States after China takes over.
The legislation has not been drafted so no details were available. If offered, it would have to be passed by both the Senate and House and signed by President Clinton.
Last December, then-Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Winston Lord said after a two-day visit to Hong Kong that the United States opposed moves by China to disband Hong Kong's elected legislature.
Hand-over plans snagged on troop arrival
Finally, yet another snag has arisen as Britain and China negotiate the handover of Hong Kong.
The countries disagreed Monday on the size of an advance party of People's Liberation Army troops to arrive from China, and when they should arrive.
Alan Paul, British representative to the talks, said, "The main issue, I suppose, is that we pointed out to the Chinese side that their proposals for the numbers of advance personnel are too high and timing of their arrival is too early."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Hong Kong governor refuses to help interim legislature - December 23, 1996
- Amid protest, Hong Kong moves closer to new government - November 15, 1996
Related sites:
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- NY Consulate of China
- The Better Hong Kong Foundation
- South China Morning Post: Countdown to History
- Hong Kong Government Information Centre
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