Alarm bells a warning for China

MANY people must be wondering how the Chinese Government and their hand-picked Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) legal sub-group could have got it so wrong with their proposal to emasculate the Bill of Rights Ordinance (BORO).

The fact that they hastily dispatched three 'wise men' to the colony last Friday to explain the PWC recommendation to people within their own camp and to senior journalists should show the depth of the Chinese leadership's concern.

Although Hong Kong has never been and never will be a top priority to the Chinese Government, the widespread alarm and unease over the PWC's preposterous suggestions deserve urgent attention. This is because the current crisis goes deeper than the usual condemnations by the pro-democracy lobby.

Ordinary apolitical Hong Kong people are unnerved and worried. They see attempts to water down the BORO as foreshadowing curbs on their freedoms.

Such concerns are also shared by local people chosen by the Chinese Government to advise them on arrangements for the transition. In a rare display of courage and common-sense, people such as Legislative Councillor Allen Lee, Frederick Fung and James Tien told the three 'wise men' they did not agree with their analysis.

It is true the British Government only decided to enact the BORO after the 1989 Beijing massacre in order to bolster local confidence. Despite the Chinese Government's misgivings, the passage of the BORO was widely supported at the time.