Resolution (article 37.2) closing the debate on the Commssion's statement on

the situation in Hong Kong

Tabled by Gianfranco Dell'Alba and Olivier Dupuis

on behalf of the ERA Group.

The European Parliament

- Having regard to its former resolutions

A. reminding the Peoples Republic of China of the universal character of the notion of fundamental rights, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which it is a signatory;

B. recalling that on 1 July 1997 Hong Kong will pass to the sovereignty of the Peoples Republic of China; also recalls that the joint Great Britain-PRC declaration on the future of Hong Kong, registered at the UN, states that also after 1 July 1997 the legislative power will be exercised by an elected body;

C. considering the proposals of the legislative Committee instituted by the Chinese Government, and reported in all the international press, regarding the reinstatement, from 1 July 1997, of the restrictive colonial laws on civil rights and the consequent annulment of the laws currently in force in Hong Kong;

D. considering the project of the "Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance" that decided to dissolve the legislative Council elected in September 1995 (Legco) and to replace it from 1 July 1997 with a body made up of persons chosen by Peking. Recalling that the legislative Council has been elected by approximately one million Hong Kong citizens and that the legal duration of a legislature is four years;

E. considering the announcement and confirmation of the future annulment of the laws which provide for and protect the freedom of the press; seeing that Tung-Chee-Hwa, who has been chosen by the Chinese Government to be the Governor from 1 July 1997, stated that the publication of opinions favourable to the independence of Tibet and Taïwan would be regarded as a crime;

F. mindful of the future annulment of the laws regarding the freedom of association, and Tung-Chee-Hwa's statement that associations in Hong Kong will no longer have the right to maintain links with "foreign political organisations": records that such measures will also apply to the Catholic Church and associations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch;

G. considering that those laws which refer to the discretionary powers of the executive for the maintenance of public order will also be reinstated;

H. considering that the proposals of annulment or legislative modification will be submitted to the vote of the people's National Assembly;

1. Requests the people's National Assembly not to approve the proposals of the legislative Committee which are contrary to the international commitments signed by the Peoples Republic of China;

2. Supports the current democratically elected legislative Council (Legco), and declares that it recognises it as the only partner regarding the inter-parliamentary relations with Hong Kong;

3. Considers that, given the possible future deterioration in the respect for human rights, the European Union's relations with the Peoples Republic of China should be revised in order to obtain formal guarantees on the respect for fundamental human and civil rights from the Chinese Authorities;

4. Requests the Commission in place to report the European Parliament, from this year on and in the next years by the end of May, on the situation of human and civil rights and on all the problems related to the passing of Hong Kong to China;

5. Also requests the Commission to intervene in order to communicate to the Chinese authorities that an attitude that violates the spirit of the agreement "one country two systems" will not be acceptable;

6. Requests a study on the possibility of extending European citizenship to the citizens of Hong Kong;

7. Decides to immediately send its own delegation there to take stock of the situation;

8. Instructs its President to send this resolution to the Council, the Commission, Hong Kong's legislative Council, Governor Chris Patten, the Government and people's National Assembly of PRC.