[asia-apec 1764] [ATTACINTL] Fw: 'Sovereignty to the people'

[Kevin Yuk-shing Li]

SCMP

Tuesday, May 8, 2001

'Sovereignty to the people'


To: President Jiang Zemin. With your arrival in Hong Kong to attend the
Fortune Global Forum, you glorify globalisation as the model to enhance the
wealth of the countries in Asia, but what we see is that the free-market
system you embrace does not bring wealth to the common people. Rather, what
we see is transnational corporations stealing the resources of the world
and making workers more vulnerable, their working conditions more
intolerable and the gulf between the rich and poor more entrenched.

Presently, as China awaits entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the
gap between the rich and poor is widening with a gini-coefficient that
measures income distribution of 0.456, a high figure, especially for a
nation that calls itself socialist. This gap is reflected in the unemployed
population of China that now stands at 140 million workers and the
decreasing income of peasants. These hardships will become even more of a
burden when China enters the WTO.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the Government extols Hong Kong's success because
of its free-trade economic system, but Hong Kong's economy, in reality, is
facing a great crisis. Hong Kong's gini-coefficient is 0.52, which
indicates that the gap between the rich and the poor is the greatest among
the developed countries. The difference between the income of the 20 per
cent of the highest income families and the 20 per cent of the lowest
income families is 23 times. The population of the poor in Hong Kong is now
more than one million people. Their employment is never secure, and working
conditions are getting worse. Moreover, occupational health and safety in
the workplace is more precarious as more industrial accidents are
occurring. We believe that after China enters the WTO the lives of workers
will become even worse.

Thus, you come to Hong Kong to sell to us and the world this global
free-trade system. You tell us everyone will benefit from free trade, but
the people who really benefit from this system are a small number of
business tycoons while the majority of the poor will become even more
marginalised.

We believe that, as the leader of the country, your responsibility is to
ensure that the nation's wealth is shared by all. Now, since Hong Kong and
China are facing difficult times, only a more equal distribution of wealth
will lead to a real economic alternative for the poor and will eventually
bring social stability, but what a pity it is that our Hong Kong Government
does not guarantee or provide comprehensive social security for the people.
Instead, it promotes the privatisation of public services and the
subcontracting of government projects, which breaks the workers' "rice bowls".

The imbalance of economic power among the people in Hong Kong is because of
the imbalance in political power. Presently, directly-elected legislators
comprise only 40 per cent of the Legislative Council seats whereas the
voting bloc system and the limitations on tabling private member's bills
inhibit the ability of Legco to monitor the Government. Recently, the
Government proposed that senior civil servants must be more accountable;
but without a directly-elected legislative system, this will only expand
the Chief Executive's power. Meanwhile, senior civil servants will not dare
criticise or disagree with the views of the Chief Executive.

We believe that the people are the master of the country. To actualise the
real sovereignty of the nation, we must protect people's rights.
Sovereignty and human rights are not mutually exclusive; sovereignty should
not override human rights. However, respect for human rights in China and
Hong Kong is still deteriorating. For example, the voices of dissidents in
China are still being silenced, and dissidents on the mainland continue to
be arrested. The religious freedom of Falun Gong practitioners is also
being denied, and the Public Order Ordinance in Hong Kong further violates
people's civil rights.

As China enters the global economic system, many cities of China are
becoming internationalised. Hong Kong is already an international city, but
Hong Kong's international character is only reflected in the economic
arena. A truly international city is a place of diversity with diverse
people living together. Through this exchange, people re-create a new
culture together. Therefore, an international city must strive to eliminate
all forms of discrimination and to move towards an inclusive and tolerant
society.

An inclusive society must affirm the basic rights of individual groups,
must affirm and respect their unique culture and contribution. An
international city should not seek to strive for homogeneity but should
instead nurture different groups to express their diversity to make life in
the community more vibrant. However, the policy of the Hong Kong Government
moves the community in the opposite direction and creates divisions. For
example, people who receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance are
stigmatised, and divisions have been created between Hong Kong's citizens
and new immigrants from the mainland.

Globalisation not only destroys the environment but also, in the name of
development, breaks the natural interdependence between people and the
environment. Very often the most vulnerable are those who are powerless.

This is an edited extract from an open letter to President Jiang Zemin from
18 local labour and religious groups protesting the holding of the Fortune
Global Forum. Their eight Chinese character advertisement, stating
`Sovereignty to the people, wealth shared by all', appears in Ming Pao today.






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