TNAG-1688-FCO40-2338-Hong-Kong-legislation-regarding-the-control-of-publications--1987 — Page 102

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HKK 301/1

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

3 April 1987

Mr Chow Wing Hang

Current Affairs Secretary

Hong Kong University Students Union

Pokfulam Road

Hong Kong

Der Dr Chow,

UKD AcctiveU3-

301/

- CAPR 1987

NTRY

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mek 7/4

1. Thank you for your letter of 25 March to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs regarding the Public Order (Amendment) Ordinance 1987. I have been asked to reply.

2. As you will understand this is primarily a matter for the Hong Kong Government. I should however make two points. First, the legislation passed by the Legislative Council on 11 March included the repeal of a number of stringent provisions of the Control of Publications Consolidation Ordinance that had been part of the laws of Hong Kong for many years, but which have not prevented the Hong Kong media from being among the most free and outspoken in Asia. In reviewing this legislation and deciding upon these repeals, the Hong Kong Government considered that in such a small and densely-populated place as Hong Kong, it was nevertheless necessary to retain some power to take action against anyone publishing false news that might threaten public order. To make it clear that this was the purpose of the provision, and that it was not intended as a limitation of the freedom of the press, that power was transferred from the Control of Publications Ordinance to the Public Order Ordinance. The provision is, therefore, in no sense a new one. The result of the legislation passed on 11 March represents a major liberalisation compared with the position before 11 March.

3. Secondly, the provision to which you object replaces (with variations) a provision which has been on the Hong Kong Statute Book since 1951. The current bills were first published in the Hong Kong Government Gazette on 19 December 1986. Thereafter the measures were discussed extensively between the administration and members of the Executive and Legislative Councils. The draft bills were very fully debated in the Legislative Council on 11