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realise that it is unwittingly putting the PRC in a very unfavourable
light with the people of Hong Kong ?
Sir, the issue before this Council today is not whether
the public should have a wider choice of films to see, for most
people in Hong Kong would not mind if that choice is somewhat narrowed down. But it concerns a much wider principle - the pre- publication censorship of films. Before this Council votes on the motion, it is important to ask ourselves these questions; where are we going from here ? Are we going forward towards a government with a high degree of autonomy or are we entering an era when a nod or a shake of the head from someone in the New China News Agency will decide what the people of Hong Kong may or may not see.? Further, once we allow pre-publication censorship in films, there is no way to arrest the tide of political censorship from overflowing to the theatre, television and to the printed media. We have seen what happened in Sri Lanka, let us stop it from happening in Hong Kong.
Sir, I beg to move.
ATTORNEY GENERAL:
Sir, I should like to intervene at
this stage of the debate to deal with the matters of law that
Mr. Martin Lee has raised. Others, including my friend the Chief Secretary, will deal with the more general arguments that have been advanced and the political considerations that justify the
regulations in the form in which they have been tabled. Members
26 will wish no doubt to have early assurance from the Government
27 that these regulations do not breach international law in that form.
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Sir, I am sure all members appreciate the trouble that
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Mr. Martin Lee has taken over this matter. It is now some three
months since Dr. J at the Hong Kong University, if I may so refer to him, suggested that the form of legislation proposed in the White Bill was not compatible with Article 19 of the international covenant on civil and political rights. Mr. Martin Lee has demonstrated his own concern by arranging to obtain a legal opinion on the point from a leading academic writer, Dr Eric Barendt.
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Sir, the question that is raised in this debate is not
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