Tuesday was the sixth anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
It may seem that the protest by the people of Hong Kong against the Beijing regime is no business of the people of Taiwan. However, the chairmen of both the KMT and PFP endorse the "one China" roof theory and use the "one China" principle, which they claim is part of the so-called 1992 consensus reached between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, as the major theme of their China policy for next year's presidential campaign. Once they are elected, it could define the country's China policy.
One cannot help but feel deeply concerned and worried about the possibility of this happening. A reminder hereby must also be given to everybody that it has been proven that the "one country with two systems" can only lead to "one country with one totalitarianism." "One country with two systems" was nothing but a piece of bait to lure Hong Kong into "gradual unified governance."
The main appeal of the protest was to oppose the expected passage of the national security bill, or the so-called "anti-subversion law," based on Article 23 of the Basic Law, which states that "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies."
In the soon-to-be-enacted law, the territory's government makes the following unlawful: treason, subversion, secession, sedition, seditious publication, unlawful disclosure and organizations endangering national security.
According to this new law, the Hong Kong chapters or branches of the groups, political organizations, and religious organizations banned in China will also be banned in Hong Kong. As long as the Hong Kong Secretary of Security Office considers any organizations or groups as intending to commit treason, subversion or secession, it may ban the groups' activities altogether.
Even more preposterous is that the law even includes clauses on closed hearings and secret trials, stating that when a court tries a group, it may order that members of the general public be excluded. The definitions of the so-called "unlawful disclosure" and seditious publication are also very ambiguous. Under an ambiguously defined yet very restrictive law, not only will the freedom of speech become a red herring, but also the scope of permissible speech will be entirely up to the government's discretion. Under the circumstances, no wonder the bill has become a cause of grave concern for both the international community and the Hong Kong media.
Once the bill is passed and implemented, it will spare no efforts in trampling on the freedom of religion. Once the Catholic Church in Hong Kong, just like the underground churches in China, becomes the subject of crackdowns, the history of more than 150 years of freedom of religion in Hong Kong will be wiped out.
Even if the church files an appeal, it may also be subjected to secret and closed trials. Moreover, the police would be able to forcibly search private residents without court-issued search warrants.
Once China gets into a war or other diplomatic conflicts with other countries, residents, travelers and other people in Hong Kong who voice support for the other side may be arrested and charged with the crime of treason or subversion, which come with a maximum life-in-prison conviction.
As a result of Hong Kong's status as an international commercial center, it is very well developed in the financial, tourism, aviation, industrial and trade sectors. In view of this, China had to use "one country, two systems" as bait to trick the people of Hong Kong into lowering their guard against gradually unifying governance.
In view of the structure of the legislature in Hong Kong, the passage of the said law is a done deal. In other words, neither the protests of the Hong Kong people nor the opposition and concerns of countries such as the US and UK can stop what is to come.
The real lawmaker is neither the territory's government nor its Legislative Council, but the Communist leadership in Beijing. Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa (董建華) is nothing but a hidden intermediary on behalf of the Beijing Communist regime. Six years after the handover, this hidden intermediary has donned a "red" cloak -- openly showing his allegiance to communist leaders.
In view of the substantive contents of the said law, it can be anticipated that, under the "one country, two systems," and "one China" roof, people of Hong Kong will fare no better than the people in China in terms of the freedoms associated with press, speech, religion and assembly -- all the fundamental and basic freedoms under political democracies.
In other words, all these democratic and fundamental political rights will be nothing but rubber stamps in Hong Kong. The situation is no better, if no worse, than that in Taiwan under martial law and the authoritarian era. No wonder the UK government is accusing China of violating the two countries' joint declaration on "one country, two systems" by blurring the line between the judicial systems of Hong Kong and China.
Article 23 of the Basic Law is a lesson from China to both the UK government and the people of Hong Kong. It also serves as a mirror for the people of Taiwan. Can all unification media entranced by the "one country two systems" illusion and leaders of political parties who advocate the so-called "one China" roof learn a lesson and come back on the right track? The country must wait and see for the answer to that question.
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