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Critics question HK leader's motives

Protesters hold a banner that reads: ``Bringing Tung down with democracy is nothing to be ashamed of. Open dialogue, fair debate'' and shows a cartoon of Hong Kong's political leader Tung Chee-hwa, during an anti-Tung march from downtown Hong Kong to government headquarters yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Supporters and opponents of Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) yesterday applauded his decision to scrap a proposed anti-subversion bill that 500,000 people protested as a threat to freedoms, but critics questioned his motives.

"The Article 23 evil law withdrawn,'' declared a front-page headline in the Apple Daily, an anti-Tung Chinese-language newspaper. Article 23 is a provision of Hong Kong's mini-constitution that requires the territory to enact a national security law.

"The move is a testament to the priority Tung is giving to public opinion," hailed an editorial in the Hong Kong edition of China's official China Daily newspaper.

After putting the proposal on hold in July when its passage became doubtful, Tung announced on Friday he would withdraw the bill from the legislature altogether and focus more on reviving Hong Kong's battered economy.

Despite welcoming the decision, about 30 activists marched to government headquarters yesterday calling for Tung's resignation and full democracy.

"Tung Chee-hwa has lost the people's faith, step down immediately to atone for your mistakes," the protesters chanted.

Tung remains widely unpopular in Hong Kong amid allegations of economic mismanagement, and his popularity plummeted further over his initially tough stance on the anti-subversion proposal.

Political opponents have questioned Tung's sincerity in scrapping the bill, suggesting he was merely providing cover to legislative allies contesting next year's elections

Several newspaper editorials also cast doubt on Tung's motivations yesterday.

"Is it yet another move that has been forced on it by political expediency?" The Standard business newspaper wrote in an editorial titled "Strategic Withdrawal."

Tung reiterated that anti-subversion legislation was a constitutional responsibility, but said he would revisit the issue only when there was greater public support for it.

Hong Kong was guaranteed Western-style freedoms when it reverted to mainland communist rule in 1997, but terms of the handover also stipulated the territory must outlaw various crimes against the state.

Accustomed to the freewheeling ways of this thriving capitalist economy, many Hong Kongers expressed outrage at the inclusion of offenses such as subversion and sedition in the proposed bill -- crimes that China has used to punish political dissenters.
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