HKLA conducted a survey among all members on the implementation of Basic
Law Article 23 from 22 October to 11 November. Feedback collected would
help the Council formulate a position paper to the Security Bureau.
Following this, the Hong Kong Library Association, together with several librarians' bodies, met representatives of the Security Bureau and Department of Justice on 15 November. The HKLA was represented by Tommy Yeung, President, Brenda Yi and Owen Tam, Council Members. Representatives of other professional bodies were:
We were disappointed that Mr. Timothy Tong, the Principal Assistant Secretary , was unable to attend due to a sudden urgent matter. The Security Bureau was represented by Mr. Johann Wong, Principal Assistant Secretary, and the Department of Justice, Mr. James O'Neil, Deputy Solicitor General.Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee -- Dr. Colin Storey Professional Teachers' Union Teacher-Librarians' Group -- Mr. Or Kam Wai Hong Kong Teacher-Librarians' Association -- Mr. Lee Wing Chuen Association of Librarians in English Speaking Schools -- Ms. Elizabeth Townson
To kick off the discussion, Dr. Colin Storey recaptured the concerns and requests of university librarians as submitted in the JULAC proposal and substantiated the argument by recent cases of censorship in Egypt and China. Throughout the discussion, librarians were repeatedly assured that the purpose of drafting a new law was to clarify those unclear clauses relating to subversion, etc. in the Crimes Ordinance and the direction was towards relaxation. The HKSAR Government was bound by international conventions on human rights and the system of "One Country, Two Systems" was always respected in drafting new laws. Mr. Wong emphasized that as a matter of fact, our concerns of being charged with acquiring seditious materials were well addressed by the principles of the consultation document. In other words, there had been sufficient protection for librarians if we were simply carrying out our regular duties.
From the viewpoint of HKLA, if the direction is towards relaxation, other than being protected in principle, we should propose putting in more specific terms in relevant clauses of the consultation document and the future ordinance. For example, we propose to add "library services" as an example of "reasonable excuses" (section 4.17) such that it will relieve librarians' worry of infringing the law when acquiring library materials. In the context of emergency entry and search by police, we suggest to add "that with immediate danger of violence" to qualify the broad sentence of "investigating some Article 23 offence".
On the possibility of issuing a white-paper bill, Mr. Wong did not talk very specifically. He just said that after the bill (not mentioned if it would be a white-paper one or a blue-paper one) was drafted, the public would still have ample opportunities to express our views.
Generally speaking, the atmosphere of the meeting was friendly. The
Government representatives took notes of our questions and concerns. They
were interested in meeting us should we have more questions and looked forward
to our formal responses to the consultation document.
Tommy Yeung
President