TNAG-2236-FCO40-3215-Hong-Kong-and-China-subversion-and-student-demonstrations-1991 — Page 63

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FOHKC-DC

華盛頓海外香港華人聯會

FEDERATION OF OVERSEAS HONG KONG CHINESE

2020 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 133 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006

TEL: (202) 722-1533 FAX: (301) 977-8695

July 23, 1991

The Honorable John Major

Prime Minister

10 Downing St.

London

United Kingdom

Dear Prime Minister,

The Overseas Hong Kong Chinese community in Washington D.C. is outraged at the British administration's treatment of delegates bound for the second assembly of the Global Chinese Student Union (GCSU), which was to have taken place from July 15 to July 18 in Hong Kong.

The GCSU was formed to coordinate the activities of Chinese student organizations worldwide with the purpose of promoting democracy and human rights, ideals dear to the British people and, in these uncertain times, of extreme importance to the citizens of Hong Kong. However, we have learned that the Hong Kong government had taken the following actions to deter the GCSU conference from taking place:

The British Consulate General in Los Angeles rejected the visa application of Liu Yong-Chuan, GCSU's coordinator, without stated reason, although all necessary documentation was in order.

Similarly, the British embassy in Denmark rejected the visa application of delegate Xiao Shi-jian without reason.

Yu Zhang, representative of the Independent Chinese Students Federation of Sweden and holder of a valid entry visa, was barred from entering Hong Kong by Hong Kong Customs, detained for seven hours without being able to make telephone calls, his baggage searched and information about the conference and personal correspondence taken.

It is deplorable that the Hong Kong Government, which expressedly abides by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, should cower under any pressure that deny individual rights and fundamental freedoms. These actions serve only to tarnish the image of the British resolve in defending the autonomy of a colony she has governed for one and a half centuries, further erodes the confidence of Hong Kong citizens, and deal a scathing blow to Hong Kong's attempt to assert its right to self-determination.