Authorities scaled back parts of a planned anti-subversion law yesterday, tempering some but not all of the criticism from opponents who believe Hong Kong's freedoms are in jeopardy.
Many of the naysayers said Hong Kong has still not gone far enough to erase their worries that the territory could end up suffering under Beijing-style tactics to deter dissent.
Secretary for Security Regina Ip said the government will scrap several items that had drawn fire from an unusually wide range of opponents, including pro-democracy lawmakers, human rights activists, business leaders, foreign governments and thousands of ordinary residents.
The planned legislation stirred up one of Hong Kong's biggest political fights since its handover from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, but Ip insisted the government was not caving in.
"We are being very lenient and we are being very reasonable," she told a news conference. "We are not talking about concessions. It is clarification."
Although Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, it is governed separately under an arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems."
That preserves Hong Kong's Western-style civil liberties, but the territory's Constitution also requires the government to outlaw subversion, sedition and other crimes against the state. Officials began work on the law last year.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) said that while most Hong Kong people accept the need for the legislation, it is being toned down partly to address concerns about freedom of the press.
For example, the government has tossed out a provision outlawing possession of seditious materials, Tung said.
Authorities will limit a ban on the theft of state secrets and apply it only in cases where people obtain classified information by computer hacking, stealing or by bribing officials, Tung said.
Journalists worried previously they could end up violating the law by reporting information that had not been officially released.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association said that "could only allay some fears, but it's far from enough."
Violators of some offenses could face life in prison. Under the new plan, those accused of breaking the law could demand a jury trial, Ip said.
Also, only Chinese nationals who are residents of Hong Kong could be charged with treason -- changing an earlier proposal that applied to foreigners, Ip said.
Groups banned in China could see their Hong Kong chapters banned only if the Hong Kong group is "subordinate" to the China group and acting against national security and not merely "affiliated" -- as originally proposed, Ip said.
Critics say Hong Kong could target groups including the Falun Gong meditation sect, and some quickly blasted the change as nothing more than a minor tinkering with the wording.
"It remains a great threat to groups like Falun Gong and those who are anti-Beijing," said Yeung Sum, head of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party.
Falun Gong is outlawed in China as an "evil cult," although it remains legal in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has disputed contentions it plans to go after Falun Gong with the law, which it hopes to pass by midyear.
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