Rt. Hon Paddy Ashdown MP
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OAA
Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher MP
Prime Minister
House Of Commons
LONDON
SW1A OAA
Our ref :- CEMC//HK
Date :- 29 June 1990
Sean Prime Minister,
ARREST OF UNITED DEMOCRATS IN HONG KONG
I write to you to express my grave concern over the Hong Kong Government's decision to prosecute 5 senior members of the newly formed United Democrat Party in Hong Kong. I understand that these 5 will stand trial for 2 charges under the Summary Offences Ordinance.
The charges stem from a lawful protest in which the 5 were involved, extending over a week, which was designed to draw attention to the failure of the British and Chinese governments to honour their obligations to the people of Hong Kong. The trial will take place on 13 July.
Four of the five (Ho Chun Yan, Yeung Sum. Wong Pik Wan and Lau Chin Shek) are charged with 2 offences: using loudspeakers in public without a permit from the Commissioner of Police, and collecting money in public without a permit from the Director of Social Welfare. The fifth (Lee Wing Tat) is charged only with the latter offence.
The law under which these 5 have been charged is frequently violated (for example by tour guides, teachers and others), and is only rarely enforced. Furthermore, the Government itself has recognised that these Ordinances themselves almost certainly violate the Hong Kong Bill of Rights which the Government has just published. In addition the Government has, I understand, submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee that it would only enforce these Ordinances in special
circumstances.
Next there is the question of how these 5 individuals were singled out. They were, I understand, among many at the demonstration; but these 5 were some of the most prominent advocates of democracy, and critics of the British and Chinese governments.
Finally there is the question of the timing of these charges. I understand that some 3 months had elapsed between the events taking place and the charges being laid. But the charges themselves were laid a very short time before a demonstration commemorating the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the decision to prosecute was wholly unconnected with the Hong Kong Government's publicly stated desire to have a restrained commemoration of Tiananmen, so as not to embarrass China.
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