HK civil liberties gradually erode

Protesters holding an effigy of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and placards march in a Hong Kong downtown street on Sunday. The Tung effigy reads ``You are superficial, and I am incompetent.'' The placards read ''Anti Article 23, and overturn the June 4 crackdown.'' PHOTO: AP

Memories Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Tiananmen Square still resonate in Hong Kong, where activists marked yesterday's 14th anniversary by warning that civil liberties here could be crushed by a pending anti-subversion bill.

The Hong Kong government is about to gain legislative approval of the measure -- which carries life prison sentences for many crimes against the state. Critics fear the special administrative zone could find itself subjected to communist-style suppression of unpopular views, although Hong Kong insists this is not an issue.

Thousands Hong Kong people gather for a candlelight vigil marking each anniversary of Beijing's deployment of troops and tanks on June 4, 1989, to stop the student democracy movement. But this year, some are worried about how long they'll be able to keep speaking out.

"If our system erodes bit by bit with this legislation in place, no matter how much the government says, `We'll be liberal,' once the laws are in place, they will be used," said Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, a nongovernmental organization.

Even the harshest critics of the law acknowledge Hong Kong is not likely to start using it immediately.

"The problem is, the water's being heated up only gradually," Law said.

"At one point, the frog will notice it's cooked," he said.

Secretary for Security Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀) has said all along that Hong Kong's freedoms will be protected.

Hoping quell the criticism, Ip appeared before lawmakers on Tuesday and announced changes that will make some crimes harder to prosecute -- for example by imposing a three-year statute of limitations for any prosecution of publishing seditious materials.

Any of a group banned on national security grounds could not be prosecuted for actions committed before the ban, Ip told lawmakers.

The opposition didn't buy it.

The founding chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, attorney Martin Lee, wrote in an op-ed piece for The New York Times. "The law would introduce Chinese legal standards through the back door."