Brussels, 24/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - This Wednesday, the Parliament will discuss the report by John Cushnahan (EPP, Ireland) on the first and second annual reports by the European Commission concerning the special administrative region of Hong Kong. The Cushnahan report notes that since the return of Hong Kong under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, in July 1997, "the basis of the one country, two systems agreement remain relatively intact and even progress", but he reveals, in the European Commission documents "a certain number of concerns". The EU "must continue to follow the situation by granting special attention to the rule of law and the actions of the Liaison office of the Chinese government" in Hong Kong, feels Mr Cushnahan, for whom the publication of an annual report by the Commission "can substantially contribute to this follow-up". According to the rapporteur, it will thus be necessary to "enrich" the resources and personnel of the Commission delegation in Hong Kong, "as was previously promised".
The Cushnahan report calls in particular that: - universal suffrage be introduced in Hong Kong at the latest for the election of the Legislative Council in 2008 and for the election of the Chief Executive in 2012, and that it go hand in hand with the "reform of the political system"; - all the bearers of Hong Kong passports may go to an EU State without the need for a visa (the EP has already made this request to in its 1998 report); - a permanent commission for human rights be entrusted with examining complaints linked to human rights abuses in this field; - an ordnance on racial discrimination be rapidly introduced in order to answer the complaints of migrant workers employed in the private sector the report notes that more than 200,000 worker and domestic migrants are working in the private sector in Hong Kong).
Among the concerns expressed by the rapporteurs, let us cite those relating to: 1) the abolition, on January 1 of this year, of municipal councils (the urban council and the regional council), which where, with the exception of the central government, the only bodies with political powers; 2) the attacks against the independence of the courts in Hong Kong. The report calls in particular the case of Cheung Tze-keung, "notorious gangster" in Hong Kong called "Big Spender", who was condemned and executed in continental China for kidnappings committed in the special administrative region of Hong Kong, by noting that the death penalty is applied on the continent, while its is not in Hong Kong, 3) the attempts, over the last twelve months, to restrain press freedoms: the report notably cites the statements by Wang Fenchao, representative of the Chinese people's central government liaison office, as they have the duty of "defending the sovereignty and integrity of the country"; 4) the inability of Hong Kong to implement to free trade policy. Mr Cushnahan cites another representative of the Chinese liaison office, He Zhiming, who, in last May, had called for, in a thinly veiled manner, businessmen not to seek out Taiwanese business partners, who support the independence of Taiwan.