Petition on Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law

[kasia]

The Society of Hong Kong and Chinese Affairs at UC Berkeley would like to invite you to sign the petition on the Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law to in regards to anti-subversion measures that will seriously damage freedom of expression in Hong Kong.

Our goal is to to request the HK government to issue a White Bill -- a law proposal which can be reviewed by all citizens before passing - so that HK people can have an understanding and a say in the legislative decisions being made.

We plan gather signatures from overseas HK and non-HK students in universities
across North America, Europe and Asia/Australia and present the petition to the HK
Legislative Council and officials such as Mrs. Elsie Leung. We will also run this petition on a mainstream HK newspaper to raise awareness of overseas students' concern about anti-subversion laws affecting the freedom of HK people.

More background information is available on our petition webpage at
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~shkca/petition/index.php3

Please sign AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Remember, every signature counts, so spread the word!

Sincerely,
The Society of Hong Kong and Chinese Affairs at UC Berkeley
Questions/Comments to petition-art23@uclink.berkeley.edu

Society of Hong Kong and Chinese Affairs SHKCA: a better way to stay informed http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~shkca

[SunWuKong]

thanks kasie
i appreciate this link
i'm really starting to think that this anti-subversion law is bullshit
and i'm pretty pessimistic about it
i think it'll basically get passed and then tung chee hwa might even use it to silence criticism about him
i wouldn't put it past him

[artsfartsyjanet]

i signed it.

[VV o n g B a]

<!--QuoteBegin--SunWuKung+Dec 30 2002, 01:13 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (SunWuKung @ Dec 30 2002, 01:13 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->thanks kasie
i appreciate this link
i'm really starting to think that this anti-subversion law is bullshit
and i'm pretty pessimistic about it
i think it'll basically get passed and then tung chee hwa might even use it to silence criticism about him
i wouldn't put it past him<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
before i say anything else, let me say that i signed it.

but now... i seem to remember you arguing that free speech wasn't all that big a deal and that free press was just an illusion. i could imply some things about your change of heart, but i believe that u're more consistent than that. what gives? (not that u have to prove yourself to me or anything. just wondering)

[SunWuKong]

Originally posted by VV o n g B a@Dec 30 2002, 05:47 PM

before i say anything else, let me say that i signed it.

but now... i seem to remember you arguing that free speech wasn't all that big a deal and that free press was just an illusion. i could imply some things about your change of heart, but i believe that u're more consistent than that. what gives?

well this anti-subversion law gives beijing a lot of power over HK, and that saddens me because I love HK. much of the HK press is either gossip news or it self-censors anyway. but this anti-subversion law is more than just about free speech. there's absolutely no written definition of what constitutes "subversion". as far as anyone can tell, the government can use it against pretty much anything that beijing doesn't like. in terms of free speech, i don't trust corporate news media all that much, but here we're also talking about the freedom to protest and march, and people don't do that for money. i still stick to my point that people don't actually care all that much about this issue as long as their pay checks aren't threatened. i bet none of my friends in HK have protested or done anything about this. most people in HK just watch on the sidelines. however i do believe that the resistance to this has gathered more public support than most previous issues.