17 '97 16:02 TIBCOQU) HK GOVT
Although no-one has challenged this Government
on its record of allowing and Indeed encouraging free
speech in Hongkong, I am astounded by the way in which
this proposal which aims to liberalise press law was
greeted in the last week of a two-month consultation
period by our friends in the media. Let me give you a few
examples.
"It is a monstrous piece of legal fascism.
"What worries me most about the bill is the
maliciousness the Government is showing in the acquisition
of more power.
"The Bill, if enforced, would turn Hongkong into
an autocratic society.
Sir, as a longtime defender of the principle of
free speech I could hardly take issue with the rights of
the authors of these quotations to speak their mind as
they see fit. But I enjoy that freedom too. I enjoy the
freedom to suggest that such irrational outbursts as these
do little credit to certain sectors of the medio in
Hongkong. They have raised the political temperature and
clouded the issue. If one studies with an open mind the
careful explanation by my friend the Attorney General, one
will appreciate the very limited effect of retaining in
our Public Order Ordinance an offence of public mischief
or the publicatic of false news.
P.5
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