News Release: Canada is called upon to speak out against the HK
- From: "Falun Dafa Canada InfoCentre" <info-centre@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: dafa-news-ottawa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 21:28:37 +0000
News Release For Immediate Release December 13, 2002
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Canada is called upon to speak out against the HK
“anti subversion” law (Article 23)
-- MP and NGO coalition join the global campaign
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Ottawa, Dec. 13, 2002 - Mr. Stockwell Day, MP, Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General
of Amnesty International of Canada, Mr. Cheuk Kwan, Chair of the Toronto
Association for Democracy in China, and Ms. Grace Wollensak, Falun Dafa
Association of Canada representative held a joint press conference today at
Parliament Hill. The group joins a global campaign opposing the Hong Kong
government’s proposal to implement an anti-subversion law (Article 23 of the
Basic Law). The 3-month consultation period for the proposal ends on December
24, 2002.
In his opening remarks Mr. Day said, “We share the concerns that some changes
made related to the Basic Law of Hong Kong, notably Article 23, may indeed
encroach upon freedoms. It is our responsibility to speak up for those citizens
when we feel their rights are being encroached.”
“Hong Kong has offered a beacon of respect for basic rights amidst China's
bleak and harrowing human rights landscape. There is now a very real risk that
the beacon will dim.” said Mr. Neve. “It is critical that the world
community, including Canada, acts now to clearly signal that legislative change
being considered for Hong Kong be change that bolsters and strengthens human
rights and does not see Hong Kong slide into China's human rights abyss.” Mr.
Neve continued, “Any such laws must not serve as a pretext for criminalizing
or restricting the exercise of fundamental rights; rights that are too often
ignored and violated within Mainland China; rights that must be scrupulously
safeguarded in Hong Kong.”
Mr. Kwan, on behalf of the Association for Democracy in China from Ottawa,
Calgary, and Vancouver, read a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, which
stated in part: “We urge Canada to speak out against the enactment of Article
23 before the consultation period expires on December 24, 2002. We further urge
Canada to use its good standing in the international human rights community to
urge other countries to do the same.”
Ms. Wollensak presented a number of persecution cases involving Falun Gong
practitioners in China that clearly demonstrated what could happen in Hong Kong
if it implements the anti-subversion law under pressure from Beijing. Examples
included Dr. Teng Chunyan and Mr. Yuhui Zhang. US resident Dr. Teng Chunyan was
charged with “leaking state secrets” and sentenced to three years in prison
after revealing the fact that Falun Gong practitioners were being abused in
psychiatric hospitals. Macau resident Mr. Yuhui Zhang was arrested during his
business trip to Mainland China. He was charged with “subversion” and
sentenced to 10 years in jail for posting pro-Falun Gong articles on the
Internet. “We would never want to see the Hong Kong people suffer these kinds
of attacks on their basic freedoms. We deeply feel that the Hong Kong
government should defer the enactment indefinitely.” concluded Ms. Wollensak.
Background:
On September 24, 2002, the government of Hong Kong published a consultation
document containing a proposal to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law. The
legislation deals with the offences of treason, secession, sedition, and
subversion against the central government in Beijing and the prohibition of the
theft of state secrets and political activities by foreign political
organizations in Hong Kong.
The proposal has provoked widespread and strong opposition from key figures in
the legal, political, human rights, religious, media, financial, and other
communities in Hong Kong and around the world. Please see:
http://www.article23.org.hk/english/main.htm
For more information, please contact Grace Wollensak: (613) 225-4408, or (613)
864-4408.
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