Hong Kong Unveils Antisubversion Bill

The government Thursday unveiled a long-awaited antisubversion bill that opponents fear could threaten Hong Kong’s democratic freedoms.

The legislation was presented to the media by Secretary for Security Regina Ip after five months of heated debate on proposals for the new law -- a debate dominated by fierce resistance from human rights and civil liberties activists.

The bill will be formally introduced to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council for debate this month, and a vote is expected before the summer recess, officials said. With government-appointed legislators holding 36 of the council’s 60 seats, passage is virtually assured.

Ip said the government in this Chinese territory had received more than 100,000 comments and suggestions since a “consultation period” about the planned law began last fall, adding that the draft presented Thursday took into account many of the concerns expressed.

“If you compare the text of the draft bill with the proposals we put forward last September ... you will note that practically every provision of the draft bill has been refined to reflect these views,” she said.

Among some critics there was a cautious yet clear sense of relief Thursday at the draft’s more modest reach. In the face of mounting criticism, for example, the government last month abandoned proposals that would have made possession of seditious material a crime.

“The bill marks an improvement over the original proposals,” said Hong Kong Law Society President Simon Ip (no relation to the security secretary).

Still, he and others expressed disappointment that the government put forward its ideas as a difficult-to-amend “blue bill” rather than submitting them in a form that would have made changes easier to make.

“It’s a great pity, because it increases the difficulty in turning the bill into a piece of effective legislation,” lawmaker Margaret Ng said.

Critics see the proposed law as part of a thinly concealed Beijing-led conspiracy to stifle free speech in Hong Kong and stamp out organizations in the region that are banned in mainland China, such as the Falun Gong spiritual group. In an unusual political arrangement, Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, but its freedoms were protected under a formula known as “one country, two systems.”

Much of the opposition to the bill stems from a mistrust of Hong Kong’s political leadership, including the region’s chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, and Ip herself. During a debate on the issue late last year, Ip tried to play down the importance of democracy, claiming that a democratic system had produced German dictator Adolf Hitler.

“One man, one vote,” she declared, “is no panacea.”