[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 117 (Monday, September 8, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S8919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   REGARDING ELECTIONS FOR THE LEGISLATURE OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL 
                         ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, I send a resolution to the desk and I ask 
it be read in its entirety.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the concurrent 
resolution.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 51

       Whereas the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong 
     Kong guarantees Hong Kong a high degree autonomy in all 
     matters except defense and foreign affairs, and an elected 
     legislature;
       Whereas the United States policy regarding Hong Kong, as 
     stated in the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 
     (Public Law 102-383), is based on the autonomy and self-
     governance of Hong Kong by the Hong Kong people;
       Whereas a democratically elected legislature enabling the 
     Hong Kong people to elect representatives of their choice is 
     essential to the autonomy and self-governance of Hong Kong;
       Whereas the provisional legislature of Hong Kong was 
     selected through an undemocratic process controlled by the 
     People's Republic of China;
       Whereas this provisional legislature has adopted rules for 
     the creation of the first legislature of the Hong Kong 
     Special Administrative Region which rules are designed to 
     disadvantage and reduce the number of pro-democracy 
     politicians in the legislature; and
       Whereas the autonomy of Hong Kong cannot exist without a 
     legislature that is elected freely and fairly according to 
     rules approved by the Hong Kong people or their 
     democratically elected representatives; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress urges Hong Kong Chief Executive 
     C.H. Tung and the government of the Hong Kong Special 
     Administrative Region to schedule and conduct elections for 
     the first legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative 
     Region according to rules approved by the Hong Kong people 
     through an election-law convention, referendum, or both.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The resolution will be appropriately referred.
  The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, as I offered this resolution just now 
regarding Hong Kong, it occurred to me that it is a coincidence that 
Hong Kong's Chief Executive, the Honorable C.H. Tung, is visiting in 
the United States this week.
  I confess the hope that he will get the message everywhere he goes on 
Capitol Hill, and everywhere else in Washington, that the provisional 
legislature's attacks on civil liberties, which Mr. Tung has defended, 
along with a new plan for an undemocratic legislature for Hong Kong, 
are totally unacceptable.
  Incidentally, Mr. President, I am grateful to the several cosponsors 
who are joining in the offering of this resolution: Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Kerry of Massachusetts, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Mack of Florida.
  Last July 1, when Hong Kong was returned to China, in accordance with 
the terms of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the joint 
declaration made absolutely clear that Hong Kong was to be autonomous 
and have an elected legislature, among many other things.
  But, Mr. President, in the past few weeks, new rules for Hong Kong 
elections have been prepared that clearly violate the joint declaration 
and threaten to cause irreparable damage to Hong Kong's autonomy. New 
rules being prepared by the provisional legislature--a body that itself 
is a violation of the joint declaration because it is unelected, and 
this provisional legislature, it will be remembered, is the body chosen 
last December in a process tightly controlled by Beijing. Though the 
people of Hong Kong had no say whatsoever, yet, it is this very 
provisional legislature that is writing the rules for Hong Kong's 
elections.
  Mr. President, this provisional legislature is now planning to adopt 
election rules for a new body comprising 40 totally undemocratic seats. 
Thirty of these seats will be ``functional constituency'' seats, as 
they have been described. The functional constituencies allow small 
numbers of trade, professional and other groups to choose a 
representative. In many cases, these functional constituencies are 
tiny--about 1,000 members.
  Britain introduced this system during its colonial rule, and it was a 
mistake. Britain's last governor, Chris Patten, attempted to improve 
upon the system by adding new, larger constituencies. Reportedly, even 
these broader functional constituencies will be slashed, drastically 
reduced in terms of the number of voters. The functional constituencies 
belong, as the Wall Street Journal stated, ``on the ash heap of 
history.'' Ten more seats will be chosen by an election committee 
comprised of pro-Beijing groups.
  Finally, the real motives of the provisional legislature can be 
discerned in their treatment of the 20 democratically elected seats. 
These seats will be chosen according to a proportional representation 
scheme expressly designed to reduce the number of prodemocracy 
candidates in the legislature.
  Mr. President, this is by no means inadvertent. It is deliberate. It 
is a deliberate attempt to reduce the influence of the most popular and 
ardently prodemocracy candidates and parties.
  The resolution just offered urges C. H. Tung and the Government of 
Hong Kong to schedule and conduct elections for the first legislature 
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region according to the rules 
approved by the Hong Kong people through an election law convention, 
referendum, or both.
  If the United States is to have a relationship with an autonomous 
Hong Kong, Hong Kong must have the democratically elected legislature 
it was promised--it was promised, Mr. President--in the joint 
declaration. The provisional legislature, which the United States has 
rejected as illegitimate and unjustified, is simply not intended to 
produce a legitimate electoral law.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I yield back such time as I may 
have.

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