January, 2003

HKCI's Position on the SAR Government's 2003 Policy Address

Rose Wu

Regarding the Hong Kong government's 2003 policy address, we want to focus on three areas of concern as our basis of discussion.

(1) No Justice, No Stability

As the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) faces an economic crisis and the threat of another budget deficit in the coming year, various proposals have been suggested by government officials to tackle these problems, including proposals for a population policy, cutting Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) by 11 percent, charging medical fees in public hospitals, assessing a monthly tax of HK$500 (US$64) on all foreign domestic workers and a nine-point package to stabilise the property market that includes halting land sales, cancelling the sale of public rental units, relaxing tenancy laws and terminating the Home Ownership Scheme. We are concerned that, while these policies might help the government ease its budget deficit, it eventually may cause more damage to the stability of society as these policies primarily affect society's most vulnerable people—right-of-abode seekers, new immigrant families from the mainland, the elderly, the unemployed, long-term patients and foreign domestic workers.

As Christians, we want to stress that all government policies should be based on the principles of justice and equity. As we evaluate Hong Kong's present situation, the underlying cause of poverty is not the lack of education or skills of the poor; rather, it is because of the imbalance in the distribution of wealth.

Based on the above analysis, we urge the government, instead of proposing the above policies which discriminate against the most vulnerable people of our community, to introduce a comprehensive social security system which provides retirement, health and safety, medical, unemployment and maternity protection. We also urge the government to establish a poverty line as an objective criteria to measure the basic living standard in Hong Kong so that society will have an objective measure of the basic living standard on which government policies are based. In addition, we believe the government should introduce a minimum wages to protect workers' basic rights. Lastly, we ask the government to promulgate a waiver so that all children of Hong Kong residents who have filed a right-of-abode case can remain in Hong Kong. We suggest that the Hong Kong and mainland governments create a mechanism that is fair, reasonable and effective so that all children of Hong Kong residents can come and be reunited with their families.

We must eliminate the growing disparity of wealth in society, for the growing hostile attitude towards the marginalised is sowing seeds of unrest. If there is no justice, there is no stability.

(2) No Freedom, No Dignity

In the past year, there have been many controversial cases that indicate that the Hong Kong government is tightening its control over freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

On March 14, the police arrested and prosecuted 16 Falun Gong practitioners for their peaceful sit-in on the side of the pavement outside of the central government's Liaison Office, claiming that the practitioners were obstructing a public place.

Since May, there have been two cases in which the police have arrested activists for holding unauthorised rallies under the Public Order Ordinance (POO), including the arrest of activists in their homes. Bar Association Chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit has criticised the Dept. of Justice for selectively instigating prosecutions.

Regarding the government's proposals to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, our concern is that the contents of the consultation document are so vague and broad that they can easily be abused by the government. Moreover, through enacting such legislation, the government will introduce into Hong Kong the mainland practice of using “national security” as a pretext to silence dissenting opinions.

As Christians, we believe that freedom of expression, particularly freedom of thought, belief, conscience and speech, are basic human rights. We cannot sacrifice these values in the name of protecting “national security.” In particular, the freedom of religious belief of Christians flows from our freedom of conscience, which may cause us to hold views that oppose those of the government. Moreover, one of the most valuable aspects of Christian communities is the worldwide fellowship which springs from our belief that all members of humanity are part of God's family.

Following this principle, and the lack of a democratic and representational political system in Hong Kong, HKCI cannot support the government's proposal to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law. Instead, we propose that the HKSAR government amend the existing draconian laws which violate people's human rights and freedoms, such as the POO. The community then will have more confidence that the HKSAR government truly wants to create an open and accountable administration that will serve the people of Hong Kong and protect their rights.

(3) No Democracy, No Accountability

After securing his second term, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's first important announcement was to introduce a new ministerial system that came into effect on July 1, 2002. From a democratic point of view, the introduction of the new ministerial system has three major problems. First, all policy officials will be accountable only to Tung. Secondly, the legislature has no role in the approval of the appointment of policy secretaries. Lastly, there was no public consultation for this major reform of the political system.

Since the handover, Hong Kong has experienced many policy disasters. One major reason for these problems is that our government is not accountable to our people. We thus urge the government to introduce a one person, one vote direct election for the Legislative Council (Legco) and the chief executive not later than 2007.

To conclude, unless Hong Kong moves towards establishing a genuinely democratic system, implements policies based on justice and encourages a respect for human rights in the community, there will not be any improvement in the relationship between the people and our government.