Published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday, October 17, 1996

(ADDS quotes, background) by Richard Ingham

HONG KONG, Oct 17 (AFP) - Democracy activists accused China Thursday of planning to gag free speech in Hong Kong after Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen warned of a ban on vigils and rallies in the territory to mark the Tiananmen massacre.

Martin Lee, chairman of the territory's largest group, the Democratic Party, said China was seeking to impose "Draconian" laws to bar political demonstrations and other shows of dissent.

"I'm extremely concerned," he said. "The Chinese government wants to have certain laws enacted here in Hong Kong that would strictly prohibit events of that kind from taking place."

Kerry McGlynn, Governor Chis Patten's spokesman, said Qian's comments would cause "much worry" for the people of Hong Kong.

He recalled that right of assembly and free speech are guaranteed under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, as well as in a mini-constitution, the Basic Law, that will take effect after the British colony is handed back to China next July 1.

Qian triggered the storm by telling the Asian Wall Street Journal, in an interview published on Wednesday, that activities commemorating the June 4 1989 crackdown on China's pro-democracy movement would be outlawed after the handover.

"In the future, Hong Kong should not hold those activities which directly interfere in the affairs of the mainland of China," Qian said.

He added: "You should keep in mind that there were many people involved in the Tiananmen Square incident, and they cannot possibly all live in jail, for the jail is not big enough."

It was the second time in three days that China had issued a warning to Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, a day after Chinese dissident Wang Xizhe left Hong Kong for the United States, Beijing declared the territory would no longer be a staging post for pro-democracy activists who flee the mainland.

Just two weeks earlier, Patten set down 16 "benchmarks" under which, he said, the world would judge China for upholding its promises to Hong Kong.

They included freedom of the press and non-interference in "annual commemorations and vigils" -- a clear reference to the Tiananmen Square rally that has drawn up to a million Hongkongers but has declined to around 30,000 in the last years before the handover of sovereignty.

The rally's organisers, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic, Democratic Movement in China, vowed Thursday to press ahead with the commemorations despite Qian's warning.

"No matter what kind of pressure there is, we'll continue to organise the activities," its chairman, Szeto Wah, said.

Qian also warned that the Hong Kong media would not be able to propagate "rumours or lies" or "put forward personal attacks on Chinese leaders."

Independent legislator Emily Lau said the remarks were a "great recession" from the promise made by Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping, who said the people of Hong Kong would be allowed to criticise Beijing's leaders."

"It's most scary," she said. "Instead, China should be trying to create a relaxed atmosphere in the territory in the next 200 days or so."

Qian's remarks aroused new anxiety over the plans of the future Provisional Legislature, an assembly indirectly appointed by Beijing, which will replace the elected Legislative Council on July 1.

Under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the government of the future Special Administrative Region (SAR) is required "to enact laws... to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion" against the Beijing government.

Critics of the article say it could give the authorities carte blanche to punish people ranging from advocates of Tibetan independence to cartoonists and activists with links to human-rights organisations.