Week of May 21, 1999
Week of May 21, 1999
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Congress Concerned Over Hong Kong’s Request for Beijing Intervention on
Ruling
SUMMARY:
In reaction to an announcement by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa
that his administration would ask the National People’s Congress (NPC) to
alter the Basic Law to reverse a ruling handed down by the Court of Appeals
in January, members of the House and Senate sent letters to Mr. Tung on May
19, 1999 asking him to reconsider. Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY), chair of the
Senate subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific affairs and Representatives
John Porter (R-IL), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Tom Lantos
(D-CA) have signed letters stating that such a move would damage Hong Kong’s
international reputation and cripple the rule of law in the newly created
Special Autonomous Region. Their sentiments echo those of some of Hong Kong’s
residents, legal experts and democratic leaders who have held protests of
what they describe as "the death of an independent judiciary" in Hong Kong.
This political and legal crisis revolves around the decision of the Court
of Appeals to grant the right of abode to approximately 1.6 million mainland
Chinese over the next ten years. Mr. Tung and his administration have issued
statements that such an influx would be devastating to the economy and infrastructure
of Hong Kong. Therefore, as a measure of last resort they will ask the NPC
to alter the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution, to restrict the criteria
on the right of abode. Because the Chinese government has the right to amend
the Basic Law, Mr. Tung insists that this will not damage the courts or the
rule of law in Hong Kong.
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Trade Delegation Arrives in U.S.; Embassy Reopens
SUMMARY:
Calm returned to the diplomatic quarter in Beijing as angry protests at the
American embassy prompted by the May 8th missile attack on the Chinese Embassy
in Belgrade subsided. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing was open for business early
this week, although the visa section was still closed.
This latest dispute between the U.S. and China may have both political and
economic ramifications. After the bombing, China demanded that the U.S. carry
out a full investigation of the incident. It also suspended dialogue with
the U.S. on military, arms-proliferation, and human rights issues. In Chinese
domestic politics, hard-liners appear to have welcomed the opportunity to
steer public opinion in the direction of nationalist impulses and away from
the venting of domestic social or political discontent.
In U.S.-China economic relations, government and business leaders—Chinese
and American alike—are worried that the sudden downturn in the political relationship
between the two nations could lead to damage in the economic realm. However,
members of a 150-strong delegation from Jiangsu province arrived in Los Angeles
this week, the first Chinese trade delegation to visit the United States since
the bombing. Although the province’s governor did not accompany the group
as scheduled, members of the delegation spoke optimistically about economic
ties between the U.S. and China. Furthermore, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene
Barshefsky has also spoken optimistically regarding the resumption of talks
on the WTO.
The U.S. and China This Week
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