Friday, December 20, 2002

(12-20) 02:53 PST HONG KONG (AP) --

Stepping into a growing political storm over Hong Kong's planned anti-subversion law, the top U.S. diplomat here said the government should release the exact wording as quickly as possible.

Pro-democracy lawmakers fear Hong Kong is devising a law that will undermine local freedoms and tens of thousands of demonstrators have turned out in protest. But the government has yet to publish a draft of the legislation.

Hong Kong has instead released a "consultation paper" outlining its intentions, and is allowing public comment, although critics call the process a farce because they can't see the wording being proposed.

U.S. Consul General James Keith said Thursday that debate over the law would be more meaningful if Hong Kong released the text, because for now "there isn't much more detail upon which to comment."

"Ideally, we would not be talking about a consultation document, but about the law itself," Keith told a group of foreign correspondents. "I think until we have the law itself it will be hard to either confirm or dismiss worst-case scenarios."

Since Hong Kong was returned from British to Chinese sovereignty five years ago, it has been required by Article 23 of its mini-constitution to outlaw subversion, sedition, treason and other crimes against the state.

Hong Kong recently began work on the legislation, stirring concerns among the political opposition and local rights activists that the measure will be too broad and will enable officials to muzzle freedoms of speech, press and assembly.

Some bankers, brokers and stock analysts also worry that the free flow of financial information could also be stifled, wrecking Hong Kong's credibility as a major money center.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has insisted the naysayers are off base, but the government has thus far refused demands that it release a copy of the law while the public is still being consulted.

Keith said U.S. officials have told Hong Kong officials publicly and privately that they want the territory to succeed under the "one country, two systems" arrangement put in place when it returned to China, which allows for considerable local autonomy and Western-style civil liberties.

"That is an element of what's at stake here," Keith said Thursday, adding that Washington wants to see Hong Kong enact the law on its own.

In response to Keith's comments, Hong Kong's Security Bureau said it would publish the planned law after the public consultation ends on Tuesday.

Legislators and the public "will have ample opportunity to study and comment on the draft legislation until the entire legislative exercise is completed," the bureau said in a statement.

There have been concerns raised that Beijing is pushing Hong Kong to move quickly. Those worries were aggravated this week when the top mainland official in Hong Kong was quoted as saying the protests against the anti-subversion law won't affect the outcome.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/12/20/international0553EST0483.DTL