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Hong Kong Leader Drops Anti-Subversion Bill
In an embarrassing retreat, Hong Kong’s leader scrapped an anti-subversion bill Friday that had drawn huge protests and raised fears China was trying to curb freedoms in the former British colony.
Tung Chee-hwa, who was chosen by Beijing to run Hong Kong, said he will withdraw the bill from parliamentary consideration because of residents’ concerns. He also pledged to focus more on reviving the struggling economy.
“I have listened to a lot of opinions, what our citizens care about the most at the moment are the economic matters,” Tung said.
Under the terms of its handover to China, Hong Kong is to enjoy Western-style freedoms, and many residents worried the bill would limit those rights. The bill had proposed giving police more powers and imposing life in prison for some offenses, stirring fears that it could lead to mainland China-style controls on journalists, the Falun Gong spiritual group and others.
Tung reiterated that national security laws are constitutionally required in Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. He refused to say when new legislation would be introduced but promised to do so only with popular backing.
“We won’t begin a new legislative process if we do not have a thorough consultation or extensive support from the public,” he said.
Critics welcomed Tung’s reversal but suggested it was a purely political decision, not a change of heart.
Pro-democracy legislator Lee Cheuk-yan celebrated “a victory of people power,” but said Tung is merely “facing the political reality.”
Tung doesn’t want to cost his allies votes in next year’s legislative elections, said Li Pang-kwong, a political scientist at Lingnan University.
Residents also had mixed reviews. “He’s just saving himself. It doesn’t mean he’s competent,” said Patrick Yu, a banker.
But C.M. Lee, a clerk, called Tung’s retreat a “brave decision,” noting: “He admitted his own mistake.”
Tung, a former shipping tycoon who is highly unpopular, said he informed the Chinese government about the decision. An official at the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing said he had no comment on Tung’s move but reiterated the central government’s support for him. He declined to give his name.
The move marked the end of a chapter in the Hong Kong government’s biggest political crisis under Chinese rule, which saw the resignations of the financial and security ministers, as well as calls for Tung to step down. After 500,000 people marched in protest of the bill July 1, legislative support quickly dwindled.
Tung first tried to cut three contentious provisions of the bill, then put the whole measure on hold after it became clear he didn’t have enough votes for passage.
The battle over the anti-subversion law highlighted the challenges of the so-called “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement – the coexistence of an authoritarian Communist state and a freewheeling capitalist city in the same nation.
As part of the 1997 handover agreement, Hong Kong was promised it could keep civil liberties typically curtailed in the mainland.
But when the proposed national security law included offenses such as subversion and sedition – charges mainland China has used to mete out harsh punishment to dissidents – many people became wary.
Fears of suppressed freedoms compounded existing worries over Hong Kong’s economic woes, bringing public outrage to boiling point.
China has been piling economic advantages onto Hong Kong recently, approving a new trade pact and expressing support for several infrastructure projects linking the two territories.
Already plagued by persistent deflation and rising unemployment, the SARS outbreak drove Hong Kong into second-quarter recession this year.
Hong Kong activists are capitalizing on their recent victory to push for direct elections in a land with little experience with democracy under either British or Chinese rule. So far, Tung hasn’t budged.
Tung was appointed by an 800-member elite committee loyal to Beijing and only under half of the current legislators were popularly elected.
China has been intent on giving the impression of a hands-off approach, saying matters concerning legislation are up to Hong Kong to decide. Critics have been skeptical.
“Hong Kong has a systematic problem,” said Lee, the opposition lawmaker. Without full democracy, he said, it’s still easy for Tung “to deviate from the popular will.”
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