about Singapore while the Hong Kong authorities are said to be armed with "a cluster of restrictive power” in their new law against the publication and circulation of "false informa- tion".
They said they made it clear to the Singapore information minister that they were not representing the two publica- tions in their case for press freedom.
Describing the case of Singapore as a "paradox" as it "prop- erly prides itself on being a regional publishing center, with modern printing facilities," the WPFC statement said:
"In our view, the government of Singapore is in violation of article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948."
They said they did not accept Singapore's argument for the restriction in terms of special circumstances like its size, multi-racial nature and efficacy and effect of rumors on the society.
They said they also did not accept the similar arguments forwarded by the Hong Kong governor, whom they met before coming to Singapore. They said they argued that Hong Kong should leave the restrictive powers to the communist Chinese government when Beijing takes back the crown colony in 10 years' time.
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