Representatives from 1,500 local organizations gathered at Victoria
Park of Hong Kong Sunday morning to support the legislation of
national security prescribed in Article 23 of the Basic Law.
Organized by the Hong Kong Coalition for National Security
Legislation, the rally was held amid the government consultation on
the proposal to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). The consultation will end
on December 24, 2002.
The participants of the rally sang patriotic songs and the slogan
of "national security: everyone's responsibility." Representatives
from various circles made speeches at the rally, expressing their
support for the legislation.
Tsang Yok Sing, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment
of Hong Kong, said it is necessary and reasonable to enact a law to
safeguard national security.
He
expressed his support for the legislation and he believed that the
SAR government would extensively solicit opinions of the people and
ensure that the law finally passed would comply with the Basic Law
Article 23, meet the demand of protecting human rights and freedom,
and win the support of the community.
Tsang Hin Chi, president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
of Hong Kong, said that as a special administrative region of
China, Hong Kong must enact the law to safeguard national security
as soon as possible.
As
a member of the business community of Hong Kong, Tsang expressed
his hope for economic prosperity of Hong Kong and noted that a
stable business environment is an important consideration for
investors.
The implementation of the Basic Law Article 23 will offer more
effective guarantee for social stability of Hong Kong, create a
peaceful and favorable environment for investors, and boost the
economic recovery, he said.
The rally drew enthusiastic participation of local people and some
40,000 people attended the rally, as against their estimate of
10,000, according to the organizer.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)