Tuesday, 01-Jul-2003 10:40PMááááá

HONG KONG, July 2 (AFP) - Hong Kong's media Wednesday painted the 500,000-strong march against a planned anti-subversion law many fear will curb human rights in the territory as a wake-up call for the government.

Major newspapers in Hong Kong splashed photos of the half a million demonstrators across their front pages following landmark protests that registered widespread dissatisfaction with Hong Kong's administration on its sixth anniversary of reunification with China.

The march targeted Clause 23, a planned anti-subversion law, which protesters feared will curb civil freedoms and gag free speech.

Demonstrators also called for chief executive Tung Chee-hwa to step down in his failure to resolve the city's economic woes since the 1997 handover of the former British colony to China.

The papers noted the rare showed of discontent is the biggest crisis yet for the administration of Tung and almost unaminously called for the government to respond.

"If it fails to do so, it will prove its critics right: that this is a government which cannot, and does not listen," said the English-language South China Morning Post.

"The rally was a show of force by an opposition frustrated by its lack of opportunity to win the right to govern and fearful of the future after the national security legislation is passed," it added.

The popular pro-democracy Apple Daily ran a front page saying "Long Live the People of Hong Kong," and called on the Tung-led government "not to become the enemy of the people by remaining stubborn."

Many demonstrators on the march had carried an Apple Daily centre page calling for Tung Chee-hwa to step down.

Rival Chinese-language Oriental Daily News, which is more pro-government, commented that the people made their anger and frustration known but added, "the government should be given time to respond and allow it to change for the better."

It said people should not be used by politicians bent on causing more divisions which could hamper the government's efforts to revive the economy.

Sing Pao Daily called on the authorities not to shirk their responsibilities and listen more to public aspirations, adding that "the people should also be more united and resilient to work for their own future as well as the SAR's".

Noting the mass protest was carried out in a sensible and peaceful manner, the independent Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily said "the government must make an all-out response, otherwise, the social unrest will continue."

"The top hierachy in the goverment should draw lessons from this painful experience and reflect on it with a new revised strategic policy," it added.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Economic Journal said the call of the people was loud and clear.

"The government must wake up and escape disaster at the last moment, by delaying the legislation of Article 23, to give itself a gleam of hope," it said.

It said the people's distrust of the government and their dissent would add factors of uncertainty to Hong Kong's political and economic future.

Only the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po followed the government line, saying the march would make outsiders feel Hong Kong was not a safe and stable place and called on the public to heed the advice of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.

Wen, who ended a three-day visit to Hong Kong shortly before Tuesday's protest, said what Hong Kong most needed now was "understanding, trust, unity, confidence, courage and action."

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ba/Qhongkong-protests-reax.RyRR_Dl2.html