Sat, Mar 06, 2004 page3

• HK democrats oppose Taiwan's independence

  ONE CHINA A group of top democracy advocates said in Washington that they are committed to China's policy of ``one country, two systems''

  • By Charles Snyder / STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
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  Hong Kong's top democracy advocates pledged their strong commitment to the "one country, two systems" concept and their equal opposition to Taiwanese independence in Washington on Thursday as they testified before a Senate subcommittee hearing called in response to Beijing's efforts to prevent universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

  "We support a one-China policy and one country, two systems," Hong Kong Democratic Party founder Martin Lee (李柱銘) told a hearing of the East Asia subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

  Later he told reporters: "In Hong Kong there is no question of independence. The Democratic Party is opposed to Taiwan's independence."

  At the hearing, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Randall Schriver issued a stern warning to China on behalf of the US that relations between the two countries will "suffer" if China does not respect Hong Kong's desire for continued democratization.

  In his testimony, Schriver warned that "it is important that China understand our strong interest in the preservation of Hong Kong's current freedoms, as well as our interest in the continued democratization of Hong Kong as called for in the Basic Law."

  "US-China relations will suffer if the cause of freedom and democracy suffers in Hong Kong. That outcome would not be good for people in Hong Kong, in Beijing or in the United States," he said.

  Lee and three of his supporters traveled to Washington at the committee's request to testify about China's moves to prevent Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's (董建華) government from setting the stage for universal suffrage for the chief executive job by 2007, as demanded by many people in the territory.

  They also spoke about Beijing's efforts to prevent pro-democracy activists such as Lee and his delegation from running for elected posts by labeling the activists as non-patriots, and therefore ineligible for leading Hong Kong.

  Both Beijing and Tung have voiced strong opposition to the hearing and to Lee's trip to Washington as interference in internal Chinese affairs, reflecting what has become a new area of friction between the US and China in recent months over the Hong Kong democracy issue.

  Meanwhile, in response to ques-tions from subcommittee Chairman Sam Brownback, a leading supporter of Taiwan in Congress, Schriver would not draw a parallel between Washington's policy toward Taiwan and its policy toward Hong Kong.

  "I think they are two very different cases and how we manage the policy is very different," Schri-ver said.

  He said the only commonality is that US supports democracy in both places.

  Regarding Taiwan, he said, "we're proud and we admire what they've done there."

  In contrast, he noted, China sees a relationship between Taiwan and Hong Kong because the one country, two systems principle "was developed with Taiwan in mind, prior to the Hong Kong experience. So they have some incentive to want that to succeed [in Hong Kong], to do well so that it will be an attractive model to Taiwan."

  He also pointed out that while China is trying to delay or block Hong Kong's democratization, Taiwan's democratization "has been rapid and been successful.
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