The Hindu : Anti-subversion bill put off

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 08, 2003

International

International

Anti-subversion bill put off

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE July 7. As if proving that Hong Kong's distinctive political identity is intact, Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Executive of that Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, today announced the postponement of further consideration of the controversial National Security Bill.

In deference to the principle of "one country, two systems", the Central Government in Beijing did not stop Mr. Tung, in his tracks.

No new date has been set for the resumption of the second reading and for the commencement of the third reading of the bill, both of which were scheduled for July 9 before Mr. Tung decided to suspend the legislative process in regard to the bill. Yet, even as he indicated in Hong Kong today that the bill was not being scrapped altogether, he hinted that he was responding to the unabated opposition to it from the "democratic sections''.

Mr. Tung's decision is a sequel to his announcement over the week-end about his administration's intention to amend the bill on three counts in a people-friendly gesture.

As the proposed amendments did not assuage the ruffled feelings of the critics of the anti-subversion bill, the Liberal Party Chairman, James Tien, tendered his resignation from Hong Kong's Executive Council "with immediate effect'' on Sunday night.

Mr. Tung accepted the resignation, despite its adverse implications for his own efforts to keep the balance of power on his side as regards the bill on the floor of Hong Kong's Legislative Council.

Even as Mr. James Tien, who commands at least eight votes in the Legislative Council, quit the Executive Council, his party appealed to Mr. Tung again to defer the bill.

Sensing that the anti-bill bloc in the Legislative Council had gained the upper hand, as a result of the alliance between the `liberals' and the `democrats', Mr. Tung announced his decision after holding an emergency meeting of the Government.

The `democrats' had by now secured the promise of sufficient votes in both `groups' of the Legislative Council in their bid to scuttle the passage of the bill. The groups pertain to functional constituencies, on one side, and "geographical constituencies, on the other. Under the rules of procedure, a majority of votes within both these groups would be required to decide the fate of the bill.

The amendments, which fell short of the expectations of the `democrats' and the `liberals' were three — the scrapping of the proposal to outlaw Hong Kong groups that might be linked to organisations already banned within mainland China, the permissibility of citing "public interest'' in defence of any disclosure of official secrets, and the move to refrain from empowering the police to search persons and premises without a court warrant.

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