Taiwanese Legislator Suspects Beijing is Using Article 23 to Gradually Impose a Dictatorship on Hong Kong

During an Article 23 public hearing held at the Legislature House, Mr. Chuo-Shui Lin, a legislator of Democracy Progressive Party, declared that it was obvious that Chinese Communists do not tolerate anyone with different opinions or ideologies. The Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong revealed that the Chinese Communist Party was preparing to persecute anyone with different views, and that they would stop at nothing to eradicate them. Mr. Hui-Lin Wu, Director of Chinese Human Rights Association, said that Article 23 in Hong Kong is similar to the former Article 100 in Taiwan, except it is much more severe.

This public hearing against Article 23 legislation was held on December 19 2002 at the Legislative House. According to the Central News Agency, Mr. Ching-his Chang, Director of the Falun Dafa Association in Taiwan, was the moderator. Mr. Chang said that the Hong Kong SAR Government intended to implement Article 23, using the laws of subversion, treason, and secession to its advantage, but by doing so, it has outraged the Hong Kong people and overseas Chinese that have been expressing their opposition with tremendous protests.

He said that according to Article 23, any Hong Kong branch of an organisation or group in China is subject to be eliminated any time in the name of national security. The Hong Kong SAR government would not be required to have an independent investigation to take such an extreme action. Apparently, the intention of Article 23 legislation is to persecute Falun Gong.

Mr. Chuo-Shui Lin said that when Hong Kong was being returned to China, the “No changes for 50 years policy” turned out to be “big changes after 5 years.” In the past, the minority political party in Taiwan was persecuted by Taiwan’s Criminal Law Article 100, and fought many years to have that law abolished. As the Criminal Law Article 100 was designed to persecute the opposition party in Taiwan, Article 23 in Hong Kong pinpoints law-abiding citizens who practise Falun Gong. It reveals how dictatorship is beginning to creep into everyone’s daily life.

Mr. Lin added that in the past, people tended to believe that the economic reforms would mellow the Chinese Communist Party. The Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong has revealed that the Chinese Communist Party hasn’t mellowed at all. They will still take extreme actions to eradicate those with different opinions. They will stop at nothing to eradicate anyone or anything that they think will threaten their political regime.

Mr. Chuo-Shui Lin asked Taiwanese people not to think that Article 23 in Hong Kong has nothing to do with them. Taiwanese people travel to Hong Kong all the time. Democracy is very precious. He hopes that Taiwanese people will express their opposition to Article 23 by sending a clear message.

Mr. Hui-Lin Wu emphasised that the abolished Taiwan Criminal Law Article 100 may seem like the distant past, but it was the law that caused the “White Terror Period” in Taiwan. Only after countless people had sacrificed their lives and shed their blood was the Criminal Law Article 100 finally abolished. That was the moment when democracy in Taiwan truly blossomed, and when the Taiwanese people were able to vote for different political parties to represent their opinions in the government. He also said that Hong Kong used to be known as the famous “Lighthouse of Democratic Freedom,” but now Hong Kong might become like Taiwan before the advent of true democracy. Freedom and human rights are the yardsticks for every democratic society in the world today. Article 23 in Hong Kong and Taiwan Criminal Law Article 100 are similar, but Article 23 is more horrific. If Article 23 passes, Hong Kong citizens will have “someone watching over them.”

Translated from:
http://www.againstarticle23.org/cn/newsdetail.php?id=228