THE GOVERNOR of Hong Kong, Mr Chris Patten, has accused Chinese officials of reckless disregard" for international opinion, in the light of new evidence that Beijing is set on reversing practically every reform he introduced since he became the territory's 28th and last Governor in 1992.
A committee appointed by China to prepare for the handover in July has recommended repealing or amending 25 laws, including provisions of the colony's Bill of Rights. It has also recommended the restoration of police powers to ban peaceful demonstrations.
Beijing officials have said they never agreed with any of the legislation sponsored by Mr Patten but democratic activists in Hong Kong expressed outrage. One outspoken legislator, Ms Emily Lau, said China was seeding a clear signal to the world that it would not tolerate dissent after Britain leaves.
The proposal to dilute recently-enacted laws came on Sunday from a legal panel of the China appointed Preparatory Committee responsible for transforming Hong Kong into a Special Administrative Region of China. It targeted legislation that provided new safeguards for human rights and the right of peaceful assembly - a particularly potent issue with Hong Kong democrats in view of the suppression of the student pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The Patten government claims that the legislation was designed to bring Hong Kong in line with the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is in line with the Basic Law, the constitution for the Hong Kong SAR agreed by Beijing in 1990.
Mr Patten said Britain will lodge a protest against China's plans, which he denounced as "legal nonsense". He told reporters yesterday: "They are, to be honest, legal nonsense and they would raise serious question marks over the early days and weeks and months of the future Hong Kong government.
"We are discussing with London the diplomatic steps that we will now take, that will include of course raising our very deep concerns through the Joint Liaison Group machinery, bout we will be going further than that," he said. "We are looking at what more we can do. But clearly, we are concerned about what appears to be the reckless disregard which some Chinese officials seem to show for the impression created about Hong Kong, about its future, about its freedom, about its success and stability."
A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing retorted We cannot accept Patten's so-called statement and urged the Hong Kong government to refrain from making statements that misled the inhabitants of the territory.
A Chinese delegate to the Joint Liaison Group, Mr Chen Zuo'er, praised the proposals for "putting history back on the right track".
Support for sweeping away the laws instigated by Britain's last Governor has come from groups like Heung Yee Kuk, which represents the clans of Hong Kong's New Territories. It vigorously opposed new legislation that eliminated traditional privileges they enjoyed, including a social systems based on Qing dynasty practices, which precluded female inheritance.