Office of the EU Commissioner on Foreign Affairs Expresses Concern Over Article 23 Legislation in Hong Kong

On April 30th 2003, the Office of the EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten wrote to a Dafa practitioner regarding the Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong.

The letter says “Commissioner Patten thanks you for your letter of 25 March 2003. He has asked me to reply to you on his behalf ... the EU also underlined that the proscription mechanism, as well as the broad definition of sedition offences, remain specific areas of concern to the EU. It reiterated that the handling of the Article 23 legislation would be an important test for the “One country, two systems” principle and called on the Hong Kong authorities to go on upholding the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law.”

The letter concluded by saying “I would like to re-assure you on behalf of Commissioner Patten, that the Commission will continue to monitor further developments concerning this important issue…”