A4-0312/98

Resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council on the European Union and Hong Kong : Beyond 1997 (COM(97)0171 - C4-0214/97)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council, COM(97)0171 - C4-0214/97,

- having regard to its resolution of 12 June 1997 on the Commission communication on a long-term policy for China-Europe relations (COM(95)0279 - C4-0288/95) (( OJ C 200, 30.6.1997, p. 158. )),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinion of the Committee on External Economic Relations (A4-0312/98),

A. whereas sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred on 1 July 1997 from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China,

B. whereas the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 and the Basic Law of 1990 guaranteed that after this transfer of sovereignty the previous capitalist system and way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years,

C. noting with satisfaction that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is governing the Region exercising its authority in all areas for which it is responsible under the Basic Law, which is to say all matters except foreign affairs and defence, without any explicit interference from the Government of the People's Republic of China,

D. considering, however, that the effective maintenance of the Hong Kong people's rights and freedoms within the framework of 'one country, two systems¨, must be underpinned by constant respect by the SAR Government for the rule of law and its implementation in both letter and spirit,

E. welcoming the SAR Government's intention to prepare the reports due under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the provisions of which remain in force in Hong Kong as guaranteed by the Basic Law, and the commitment of the Government of the People's Republic of China to submit these reports to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights respectively,

F. welcoming the fact that fears about the possibility of a significant spread in corruption have not been realized, according to the Independent Commission against Corruption, and congratulating this body for the effectiveness with which it has pursued its work,

G. regretting the decision of the Government of the People's Republic of China to abolish on 1 July 1997 the Legislative Council elected in 1995 and replace it with a nominated Provisional Legislative Council, and recalling that it has repudiated the legitimacy of the Provisional Legislative Council,

H. welcoming the rapid organization by the SAR Government of elections held on 24 May 1998 for a legitimate Legislative Council which took office in July 1998 to replace the Provisional Legislative Council but regretting that therefore for one year after the transfer of sovereignty there was no legitimate legislative authority,

I. recalling that the Basic Law specifies a gradual increase in the number of Members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections up to parity between these and Members returned by functional constituencies in the Third Legislative Council, whose term of office will expire in 2008,

J. underlining, however, that the Basic Law states that the ultimate aim is the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage and stressing that Hong Kong political and economic development can only be strengthened by ensuring that the elections in 2008 are fully democratic,

1. Regrets that the complicated and less than fully democratic electoral system applied in the 1995 elections, with Members returned by functional constituencies, the Election Committee and geographical constituencies, was maintained with further restrictions on the franchise resulting in the pro-democracy parties obtaining only one-third of the seats on the Legislative Council despite winning a clear majority of the popular vote;

2. Welcomes the fact that despite this Hong Kong voters demonstrated their interest in democracy by achieving a turnout of 53.3%, representing 1.49 million voters, which was 50% higher than the number of voters who cast their votes in the 1995 election;

3. Notes that, while the Basic Law provides that the Central People's Government shall appoint the Chief Executive, it also somewhat incomprehensibly states that the ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures, and urges that close consideration be given to establishing a system to elect the Chief Executive, directly or indirectly, at the end of the first two mandates in 2007;

4. Notes that the Basic Law, which provides that Members of the Executive Council are appointed by the Chief Executive, permits him to choose Members of the Legislative Council to serve on the Executive Council, and urges that such appointment should become the norm, especially when the whole Legislative Council is directly democratically elected;

5. Notes that the 36 Hong Kong delegates to the National People's Congress have an important position augmented by the fact that any amendment to the Basic Law requires the approval of two-thirds of them and that they are also ex-officio members of the SAR Election Committee;

6. Regrets, therefore, that these 36 delegates were appointed by a Selection Committee in a less than transparent fashion, and that members of the Democratic Party, the party which received by far the largest number of direct votes in the geographical constituencies in 1995 and in 1998, were totally excluded;

7. Draws attention to public concern about the freedom of expression, as evidenced by the widespread protests after the attack on the independence of the public broadcaster RTHK made in Beijing by a Hong Kong member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee; notes, however, that this attack was denounced by both mainland Chinese and Hong Kong leaders;

8. Calls on the Hong Kong Government, when it introduces laws under Article 23 of the Basic Law to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition or subversion against the Central People's Government, to ensure that these do not in any way violate the provisions of the ICCPR;

9. Reiterates its attachment to the maintenance of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Hong Kong and expresses its concern at court rulings on the legality of the Provisional Legislative Council and on the right of abode for mainland children with a Hong Kong parent, at limits placed on the number of foreign judges who can sit on the bench of the Court of Final Appeal, at the Adaptation of Laws (Interpretative Provisions) Ordinance and at the non-prosecution of Xinhua (the New China News Agency) for failure to comply with the Personal Data (Protection) Ordinance and of all those apparently involved in corruption relating to the newspaper Hong Kong Standard;

10. Calls on the SAR Government to grant permanent residency and the right of abode to all current Hong Kong permanent residents who have obtained foreign passports;

11. Urges all Member States to grant visa-free entry to holders of Hong Kong SAR passports and the three million Hong Kong BN (O) passport holders, a measure which would considerably help the maintenance of Hong Kong's way of life, and expresses its concern that refusal by a single member of the Schengen Pact to do this would effectively deny these passport holders visa-free access to 13 of the European Union's Member States;

12. Considers that the European Union must fully support Hong Kong's international autonomy in the economic, trade, financial and monetary, shipping, communications, tourism, cultural and sports fields and as a separate customs territory, and urges close cooperation with Hong Kong as a partner in the WTO;

13. Calls for cooperation with Hong Kong in all these fields at a variety of levels to strengthen the EU's relations with Hong Kong and to underpin its vital role as a centre for China's international business activity;

14. Calls on Commission and Council to monitor closely the financial and economic autonomy of the SAR, including the continuation of the level playing field for business and complete objectivity in the awarding of contracts and franchises as well as the financial stability of the Hong Kong market;

15. Calls on European companies operating in Hong Kong and in China via Hong Kong to observe ILO core labour standards in their operations, and requests that the Commission monitor such compliance;

16. Welcomes the Commission's intention to produce annual reports on political and economic developments in Hong Kong, the first of which will doubtless pay close attention to the issues raised in this resolution;

17. Considers that the Commission's Office in Hong Kong must be able to play a significant role both in producing this annual report and in general in strengthening links between Hong Kong and the European Union, and to that end requires a significant increase in staff and other resources;

18. Calls for the establishment of close links between the European Parliament and the SAR Legislative Council;

19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.