94
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
10 November 1993
香港立法局
一九九三年十一月十日
94
Some China advisers comforted Hong Kong people by pointing out that we did not need to worry about the case of HAN Dongfang because we will be blessed by the Basic Law on 1 July 1997.
But what they did not say is that the final right of interpretation of the formal guarantees of rights in the Chinese Constitution and the Basic Law rests with the National People's Congress, a political organ under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.
It is instructive to note that when Mr HAN attempted to take his case, through a friend, to a Peking court, the court opined that it did not think that Mr HAN had a case because in its view, Mr HAN had not suffered any injury. The Chinese Government's view of the law as an instrument of the state means that not only is there no promise of remedy to ensure the citizen's enjoyment of his or her rights, but also that the rights themselves could be cancelled by the state. Hence, we have the extraordinary case of labour activist, HAN Dongfang.
In Hong Kong, we believe that civil liberties must be safeguarded against the abuse of state power by the law and by the legal process. We believe in an authentic rule of law and inherent individual rights.
If the gulf between China's and Hong Kong's understanding of law cannot be bridged, then one may conclude that "one country, two systems", the fundamental principle behind the Sino-British Joint Declaration, cannot work.
The least the British Government can do is to ensure that any BNO passport holders who are expelled from Hong Kong after 1997 will be accepted for settlement in Britain. Better still, would be for the British Government to grant full British citizenship to all Hong Kong British subjects.
Mr President, I support the motion.
MS ANNA WU: Mr President, as a firm believer in the right of all people to freedom of movement, I am happy to support the motion.
I am aware that the Chinese Government, in the Basic Law, has already provided assurances that Hong Kong people after 1997 will have