I REFER to the letter from D. Castree, headlined, 'A tale of two contrasting cities' (South China Morning Post, March 4).
I also have a tale of two contrasting cities - Guangzhou and Beijing, in China. They are under the control of the same central government, without human rights, and yet personal security in Guangzhou is unacceptable (it is probably worse than Washington), whereas Beijing is free from robbery by gangs, blackmail, beggars and prostitution.
Another tale of two cities may extend to Tokyo and Washington. Both capital cities have people who respect human rights. However, for some reason, Tokyo is much safer than Washington. Japan like most of mainland China, is safe, and yet China does not enjoy human rights.
Some people often link human rights with crime, but they are two separate issues.
Civil order is to do with the discipline of people and the strictness with which civil order policies are applied. Human rights comes into play when a government considers how to run a country and passes the relevant reforms.
Hong Kong is a pro-human rights city. We are working towards the goal of full democracy.
