TNAG-1689-FCO40-2339-Hong-Kong-legislation-regarding-the-control-of-publications--1987 — Page 283

сору

letin

(132

K W Watkins Esq

Chairman

The Friends of Hong Kong Committee

11 Green Park

Prestwood

Bucks HP16 OPZ

16 April 1987

вче зак

RECEIVED B^GISTRY

16 APR 1987

FICER

PA

Acuon Taken

mek 23/4

Thank you for your letter of 6 April to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs about the Hong Kong Public Order (Amendment) Ordinance. I have been asked to reply.

As you will appreciate, this is primarily a matter for the Hong Kong Government. I should however make two points. First,

First, as you note, 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. These have not prevented the Hong Kong media from being amongst 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 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.

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