TNAG-1735-FCO40-2448-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 163

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 18 May 1988

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If we introduce political censorship on films, similarly, the same can be extended to television, radio, magazines, newspapers and even public state- ments and personal opinions as well. This will seriously infringe the principles. of freedom of expression and freedom of speech. I have watched two films previously banned because of political sensitivity. I found that the contents of the films are neither exaggerating nor misleading. If we enact laws which might be considered by the public as infringement of freedom and cutting back of their civil rights and freedom, it will definitely affect Hong Kong's prosperity and stability in the future.

Sir, in implementing any film censorship law, I hope the Government should take into consideration the operational difficulties encountered by those in the trades, and try its best to help them, including review of the situation when it is necessary.

Sir, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR. MARTIN LEE: Sir, on the Second Reading of this Bill, I shall be extremely brief. The first point I wish to make is in relation to clause 10(2)(c) of the Bill, which, in effect, gives the censor the power to ban a film or excise a portion thereof, if he is of the opinion that the exhibition of that film in that form is likely to seriously damage good relations with other territories. Sir, I am opposed to political censorship of any kind; and I am glad to have the support of Mr. Helmut SOHMEN in this respect. Although he is unable to speak on this Bill on this occasion, being away from Hong Kong, he has asked me to convey his views to this Council.

Sir, the hon. Stephen CHEONG said that for many, many years political censorship has in fact been applied to Hong Kong; but of course he rightly reminded us that it was in fact a wrongful exercise of power on the part of the censor for over 10 years. With respect to him, the fact that the people of Hong Kong have long been wrongfully deprived of one aspect of the freedom of expression cannot be a reason why we today should legalise this long-standing illegal practice. Sir, I do not intend to go through these well rehearsed reasons. again, as they have been well documented in our Hansard during our debate on 8 July 1987, and I will simply state my view on clause 10(2)(c).

Sir, provided that we are satisfied that clause 10(2)(c) will not infringe article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, then I am prepared to support it. In order to bring that about, we have to satisfy ourselves that the law as passed will only give the censor limited powers, to ensure that when he does exercise his powers to ban a film or excise a portion thereof on the ground that it would seriously damage good relations with other territories, he could only do so within the terms of paragraph 3 of article 19. In other words, he must be satisfied that it is necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others, for example, the reputation of foreign dignitaries; or that it is necessary