500,000 take to the streets
(That's about 7% of population - Is this happening anywhere else?)
Message 19077815
JIMMY CHEUNG and KLAUDIA LEE
More than half a million Hong Kong people took to the streets yesterday in a landmark anti-government protest on the sixth anniversary of reunification with the mainland. The rare show of discontent is being seen as the biggest crisis yet for the Tung Chee-hwa administration.
Organisers last night claimed the turnout exceeded 500,000, a figure they said was well above expectations. The Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the protest, had hoped for 100,000 people.
Police said 350,000 had taken part in the protest before it peaked at 6pm, but conceded that this figure did not include all participants. The force said the protesters should be proud that hundreds of thousands of people finished the march within hours in a peaceful and orderly manner.
It was the biggest protest in Hong Kong since 1.2 million people hit the streets in support of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in 1989.
Referring to the overwhelming response at the end of the seven-hour protest, front spokesman Lee Cheuk-yan said: "The figure is really no longer important. We have made history today. I think Mr Tung should seriously look at this."
The group demanded an immediate dialogue with Mr Tung and urged him to shelve the controversial national security legislation and speed up democratic development.
It threatened to mobilise the public to besiege the Legislative Council building on July 9, when the national security legislation is put to a vote. The bill is aimed at outlawing offences such as subversion, treason and succession.
Mr Tung said in a statement that he was "very concerned" about the mass protest and that he understood the people's aspirations. He said the government and the public shared the same position on the importance of rights and freedom.
"We shall continue to take active steps to maintain and safeguard rights and freedoms and develop democracy in a gradual and orderly manner according to the blueprint laid down in the Basic Law," he said.
He repeated that it was Hong Kong's constitutional duty to enact the legislation.
The chief executive said the government understood the public was experiencing hardship amid economic restructuring and was taking measures to ease unemployment. He pledged to strengthen communication with the public.
Mr Tung said he hoped the community would build on the spirit of solidarity developed in the fight against Sars and work together to relaunch Hong Kong and revitalise the economy.
Despite the massive turnout, the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong and the Liberal Party said they did not plan to back down on their support for the national security legislation.
The response was so overwhelming that tens of thousands of people were still pouring in to Victoria Park hours after the first batch arrived in Central at 4.15pm. The last batch of protesters arrived at Central Government Offices shortly after 9pm, six hours after protesters started leaving Victoria Park.
Brandishing anti-Tung placards and chanting slogans against the government, protesters, dressed mostly in black, braved scorching heat to vent their anger. They carried effigies of Mr Tung and Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee as they walked from Causeway Bay to Central.
Police were forced to open more thoroughfares for the protest as tens of thousands of people were still waiting to move out of the park late in the afternoon.
Premier Wen Jiabao, who left hours before the march began, told principal officials not to disappoint the public.
"Understanding, trust and support are most important in the current situation. You have a great mission ahead. You should not disappoint the Hong Kong public and the Chinese people," he said.
Asked why he did not stay to address the protesters' concerns, Mr Wen said: "My three-day mission is over. My job to bring warmth and hope to Hong Kong has finished. I have said what I have to say."
In his first direct comments on Article 23, Mr Wen said: "Article 23 will not affect Hong Kong people, including reporters, from enjoying their various rights and freedoms under the law."
Commenting on the march, Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping admitted that the government had to improve its responses to public sentiment. Dr Ho said: "Premier Wen has given me much insight personally. We still have a great deal to learn about how to get closer to the public."
City University political commentator Ivan Choy Chi-keung said the march had shown that Mr Tung was facing a governance crisis.
"Mr Tung should shelve the legislation indefinitely and remove Regina Ip to appease public outrage," he said.
scmp.com
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Thousands Assail Hong Kong's Chief
Biggest Crowd Since '89 Airs Wide Grievances
washingtonpost.com
A protester holds a poster of Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa being splashed with a pie during a march by hundreds of thousands that began as a protest of a proposed national security law but grew to include such issues as unemployment and the SARS epidemic. (Vincent Yu -- AP)
By Alexandra A. Seno
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, July 2, 2003; Page A10
HONG KONG, July 1 -- On the sixth anniversary today of the handover of Hong Kong to China, hundreds of thousands of residents in the former British colony protested in an unprecedented show of dissatisfaction with the government of the Beijing-appointed chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa.
Police estimated the crowd at 350,000, making it the largest protest in the territory since the demonstration that followed China's crackdown in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Demonstration organizers said more than half a million people showed up.
"It is incredible. No one could have guessed this turnout. This shows that the people are very angry at the government," said an opposition Democratic Party legislator, James To, his voice hoarse by late evening after many hours on a public address system rallying the marchers.
While the protest was planned to express opposition to a proposed national security law, it turned into a forum for all sorts of grievances -- from a general dislike of Tung to high unemployment to his handling of SARS, the respiratory virus that ravaged Hong Kong for months.
An unusually large cross section of the population took part: old people in wheelchairs; mothers pushing strollers with toddlers, young children, middle class people, executives. Even the advertising industry, not known for making political statements, made an appearance. Many carried homemade signs, saying, "Tung step down." Others had the number 23 crossed out, referring to the controversial article in the Basic Law, or mini-constitution, requiring a national security law. Several wore oval black-and-white stickers that read: "We deserve better."
Following the march, the government released a statement saying Tung "was very concerned that a large number of citizens took part in the procession today. He expressed his understanding of the aspirations of the participants."
To commemorate the anniversary, Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in the territory and told an audience of political and business leaders that Beijing would honor its pledge to allow Hong Kong considerable autonomy. As part of the deal between Britain and China, Beijing agreed to give Hong Kong the right to keep its capitalist system and free press for 50 years starting in 1997. Wen was later asked about the anti-subversion bill and said it "absolutely will not affect the different rights and freedoms Hong Kong people -- including reporters -- enjoy under the law."
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao gave a speech on the 82nd anniversary of the founding of China's Communist Party that officials had predicted would be used to begin pushing some limited political reform. But the official New China News Agency did not mention any call for reforms in its report on the speech.
The president devoted his speech to a political theory put forward by his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, a blueprint for turning the Communist Party from a party representing China's working class to a party representing China's elite. Analysts interpreted Hu's support for Jiang's theory as a sign that he still is not strong enough to push his own agenda.
Hong Kong's national security law, expected to pass next week, will ban subversion, treason, sedition and other crimes against the state, giving police more powers and carrying life prison sentences for some offenses. Critics expressed concern about possible mainland-style suppression of dissent in Hong Kong, although the government insisted that constitutionally protected liberties would not be violated.
In oppressive summer heat, the protest lasted six hours, until 9 p.m., and followed a route from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to the Central Government Office. The mood was generally solemn and purposeful with the crowd chanting in Cantonese: "Return Hong Kong to the people."
In front of the Central Government Office, Maurice Lam, 36, asked a passerby to snap a picture of him and his wife. Lam, an engineer, said, "I've never joined such a protest. This is our first time. Our march will not make a great change, but we hope we can help move towards democracy. We try to express our feelings."
His wife, Terenda Tong, 30, said, "We're taking this photo because when we have a child, we want to give him or her the picture and show we care for the future."
Correspondent John Pomfret in Beijing contributed to this report.
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Hong Kong's Top Leader Softens Controversial Bill
By Philip P. Pan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, July 6, 2003; Page A19
BEIJING, July 5 -- Fighting to keep his job after massive anti-government protests embarrassed his bosses in Beijing, Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, agreed today to soften the controversial anti-subversion bill that triggered the demonstrations. But he refused to postpone a vote on the legislation, setting the stage for a showdown with his pro-democracy opponents next week.
Tung offered the concessions after about a half-million people marched through downtown Hong Kong on Tuesday in a powerful display of discontent on the sixth anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule. The protests were the largest in China since Beijing crushed the 1989 student-led democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.
"Hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets to express their concern over [the anti-subversion bill], their dissatisfaction over government policies and over my governance in particular," Tung said, surrounded by his aides at a somber news conference in Hong Kong. "My colleagues and I have to do better."
Tung acknowledged that he had failed to address the public's fears about the bill, which critics have described as a threat to freedom of speech, press and assembly.
To address their concerns, he said he would remove a provision allowing the government to ban groups linked to organizations outlawed in mainland China, add protections for journalists who publish state secrets and scrap a section allowing police searches without warrants.
But he refused to postpone a vote on the bill, scheduled for Wednesday, saying it was a "matter relating to the national dignity and the glory of the Chinese race." Although Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy after its return to China, Beijing has been pushing Tung to enact the anti-subversion legislation.
Opponents of the bill said Tung's offer was too little, too late, and they vowed to surround the Legislative Council building with tens of thousands of protesters if he insists on calling a vote on Wednesday. Even Tung's allies said the changes might not be enough to save the bill, which has become a flash point for deep public anger over his poor handling of the slumping economy and the SARS outbreak.
"The government is afraid. That's why it made these concessions," said Richard Tsoi, a spokesman for the group that organized Tuesday's demonstrations. "But I think a majority of the Hong Kong people will not be satisfied unless the legislation is abandoned or deferred."
"The public wants all its freedoms preserved," said Martin Lee, a veteran lawmaker and democracy advocate. "Even with these three concessions we are very worried."
Hong Kong's post-colonial constitution, agreed to by Beijing and London, requires a security law to be passed but also includes calls for democratic reforms, and does not set out a timetable for either. Lee and others argue that a law should be adopted only after democratic elections for the chief executive and legislature are held.
The anti-subversion bill, known as Article 23, was expected to sail through the legislature, where most members are picked by pro-government and pro-Beijing groups and only a minority are directly elected. But the mass protests dramatically changed the political environment in Hong Kong, putting pressure even on lawmakers representing small constituencies such as bankers and accountants.
At least 22 of the 60 legislators have come out against the bill, while only 17 have declared their support. The remaining 21 members usually vote with the government but appear to be wavering.
The key votes lie with the pro-business Liberal Party, whose leader, James Tien, is a member of Tung's cabinet. But Tien said today that he was waiting to see how the public reacted to the changes to the bill before deciding what to do.
On Friday, Tien suggested postponing the vote after visiting Beijing, where he said Chinese officials told him the timing and content of the legislation was up to Hong Kong. At least two other legislators have traveled to Beijing as well, including one who said today that he would vote against the bill. The trips have left the impression that Beijing may be abandoning Tung six years after it installed him as chief executive.
"I don't think Beijing would like him to step down right now," said Ma Lik, secretary general of the main pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong and a deputy in China's national legislature. "But I wouldn't be surprised if Beijing has that in mind."
China's state media have been barred from mentioning the demonstrations in Hong Kong, but the official New China News Agency reported Tung's proposal today and quoted an unnamed official urging Hong Kong to "complete the legislation as scheduled."
Special correspondent Chandra Wong in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
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