Rose Wu

[Ed. Note: The author is the director of the Hong Kong Christian Institute (HKCI).]

Today I want, first of all, to thank the effort of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to publish the Chinese translation of the Asian Human Rights Charter and to share this with the local community in Hong Kong as well as all Chinese-speaking people. This is, indeed, a significant occasion as we all come together to celebrate this great achievement of the people of Asia and to reaffirm that human rights reflect Asian values because Asians are humans and as a result they have rights. At the time of this new millenium, Asia’s people are stating clearly that only when Asia’s governments respect their people as human beings can they gain legitimacy to be their government.

In this presentation, I will focus on Hong Kong’s unique experiences as an illustration to respond to the overall spirit of the Asian Human Rights Charter and to point out both the obstacles and the future directions of the human rights movement in Hong Kong as well as in Asia. As a feminist and Christian social activist in Hong Kong, I hope my perspectives can stimulate our thoughts and enrich our discussions.

First of all, the Asian Human Rights Charter is very right to assert that human rights is the most basic and fundamental value for all members of the human race. Therefore, we must affirm human rights as a universal and unconditional value that all governments and societies are obligated to respect, to promote and to defend and to acknowledge the dignity of every human being regardless of any other factors. Secondly, human rights has to be understood as a holistic value which includes civil and political rights as well as social, economic and cultural rights, and therefore, there is no hierarchy of rights with some being more important than others. Thirdly, the protection of human rights is not just an abstract idea; rather, it has to be secured in the formal constitutional and legal structure of a country and implemented through concrete laws, policies and practices of governments as well as ingrained in people’s attitudes and cultures.

However, among the realities of Hong Kong and China, there are many obstacles that we have to tackle together as a nation in order to translate this spirit into the daily life commitment of our governments as well as the people. The first obstacle that I want to highlight is the overemphasis on economic success as the ultimate goal of the community and the misleading belief that as long as we maintain Hong Kong and China as a favorable region for investment and trade it will eventually benefit all people. This is a false assumption, for reality reveals that under this development model the gap between the rich and poor has grown wider and the people’s social and economic rights have been violated even more seriously than before. According to the World Bank, in the past 30 years, the discrepancy between the world’s richest and poorest people has increased 10 times. As the leaders of China and Hong Kong enthusiastically and blindly anticipate the entry of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a way to help China accelerate its economic develop-ment, a leading researcher on Asian economic issues, Walden Bello, warns us that by joining the WTO developing countries will be forced to set up a legal system that enshrines the priority of free trade above every other good-above the environment, justice, equity and community.

The second obstacle relates to the view held by most governments in Asia that civil and political rights are a Western value and that they pose a threat to state sovereignty and social stability. Based on this belief, the urge of people for a democratic government, as well as their longing for freedom of expression and other freedoms, are always suppressed under the name of maintaining social and political stability. In Hong Kong, for instance, the demand for a direct election by the people for the post of chief executive and for members of the Legislative Council has been postponed year after year. Another good illustration of this problem is the ongoing argument on whether or not to amend Hong Kong’s Public Order Ordinance. The security chief, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, has openly objected to any amendment to the existing Public Order Ordinance and has argued that it is necessary to keep the ordinance in its current form in order to maintain Hong Kong’s social stability. According to Ip, the freedom to demonstrate and protest are not absolute rights; rather, they have to be balanced with the need to maintain stability in the community. Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, the chairman of the Hong Kong Exporters’ Association, a pro-government organization, has even said that the Public Order Ordinance helps promote the government’s dignity and has called for the banning of protests outside central government offices in Hong Kong. The danger of holding on to this patriarchal and highhanded governing attitude is that the executive-led government has become more and more deaf and blind to the reality of the people and disregards people’s right to freedom of expression as one of their basic human rights, a right that is as important as the right to eat, to work, etc. Civil and political rights should not be treated as something that is granted through the mercy of the authorities.

The third obstacle concerns the manip-ulation of people by the Hong Kong government. For the past few years, the government has intentionally picked certain underprivileged people-right-of-abode seekers, new Chinese immigrants, recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and domestic migrant workers, for example-as society’s scapegoats in order to make their policies more easily enacted and supported. As a result, many of these people have been further marginalized and have come to be seen as a burden on our society. In the prevailing highly competitive atmosphere and amid feelings of insecurity, people in Hong Kong have become more intolerant and hostile toward those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable.

The fourth obstacle that I want to highlight today involves the rights of women and minorities, such as sexual minorities, sex workers and single parents. It is difficult to advocate the rights of these people in Hong Kong and Asia because they pose threats to traditional beliefs and customs about what constitutes a family in Asia and are a danger to men’s privileged position in society. In Hong Kong, the most outspoken groups which promote prejudice and a discriminatory attitude toward sex workers and sexual minorities are conservative Christians who see their action as a way to justify their religious values on sex and the family. This attitude again reflects the need to view human rights as a universal value in our society, for no one’s rights should be sacrificed under the name of religion, the so-called normal family or social morality.

The last concern that I want to share with you is about the Chinese government, which uses the excuse of state security to arrest and suppress its people’s religious activities, such as the detention and persecution of many Falun Gong followers, Catholic priests and Protestant pastors as well as the destruction from time to time of Catholic churches and Protestant house churches. Recently, because of the Vatican’s canonization of Chinese saints, the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese also received some pressure from the China Liaison Office, which suggested that the celebrations of the local diocese be kept low key. All of the above illustrations indicate that the Chinese government violates the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and even Article 36 of its own Constitution that grants the people of China the right of religious freedom. This has aroused deep concern among religious bodies in Hong Kong.

To tackle these obstacles, we must first challenge the underlying assumption that all values, including a respect for human dignity, community and protection of the environment, can be sacrificed in the name of economic growth. Rather, we have to reaffirm life and community as the primary goals of all human communities. The pursuit of economic development is only a means to enhance these goals, but it ceases to be a valid means when it exploits people’s lives and dignity and destroys the environment. Therefore, we must shift the driving force of the existing economic goal from competition and growth to the redistribution of wealth based on the spirit of sharing and equity.

To change the existing economic system, we must at the same time seek to transform the existing political system into a government that is more democratic and accountable. In this case, we see very clearly that we cannot separate social and economic rights from civil and political rights. Without equal political participation, people will never have the power to change the goals and the rules of economic development. Moreover, to reform the political system in Hong Kong, we have to also transform the political culture of our society. After the handover, the leaders of Hong Kong have adopted some of the characteristics of China’s political culture, such as seeking a unified voice by suppressing other opinions, indirectly influencing the media and our academic institutions and threatening students who challenge the validity of the Public Order Ordinance. To overcome this obstacle, we must not abandon our democratic goals and principles. We also have to challenge the government’s stance that the amendment of the Public Order Ordinance is a threat to social stability. Instead, we have to point out that the existing ordinance not only violates the civil and political rights of Hong Kong’s people, but it also increases the tension between the police and demonstrators and creates more burdens for the police and the government.

Moreover, in order to respect the human rights of the most marginalized people of Hong Kong-our women, sex workers, sexual minorities, single parents and differently abled people-we must first promote a culture of tolerance and mutual respect of different people in our community by expanding the Equal Opportunities Ordinance to cover discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, age and other forms of prejudice. This emphasis is even more urgent in the context of Asia because, on one hand, the sex and gender issue is still a cultural and religious taboo, and, on the other hand, the sex industry and the trafficking of women and young children have already become a serious problem in many Asian countries. Instead of asserting the human rights of sex workers and tackling the issue from a wider perspective of poverty and patriarchalism, present policies only take a moralistic stand that further marginalizes sex workers. We also have to educate the community to respect and treasure the diversity of our human communities as well as the diversity of life.

As I near the end of these remarks, I want to offer two suggestions for any future amendments to the Asian Human Rights Charter. The first relates to the issue of gay and lesbian people that was mentioned in the section on the rights of minorities. I suggest that you use the more inclusive term ‘sexual minorities’ which not only pertains to homosexuals but also to other sexual minorities, such as bisexuals and transsexuals. Secondly, I suggest that the charter expand its coverage in the future to embrace the rights of the elderly in Asia. Because of the rapid industrialization and urbanization of Asia’s societies for the past 20 to 30 years, the large and cross-generational kind of family structure has shifted to nuclear families. Consequently, elderly people are the first to be affected and marginalized, and yet, the social security system, as well as the social culture, have not been able to catch up with these rapid social changes that have created greater suffering for the older generation. The human rights of aging people are not only an issue of economic survival; they are also an issue of dignity.

To conclude these comments, I would like to suggest that the issue of human rights is not merely a social or political issue; rather, it is a question about the values of life and community. The challenges that we have to face as a community are reflected in several vital questions: Do we respect human life? Do we treasure a community in which we can share and care for each other instead of compete against one another and scramble for success? Do we treasure diversity and equality? Do we respect a human’s right to freely express themselves and equally participate in the life of the community instead of a highly ordered and unified society? If we treasure human dignity and value life, we must take action now and make a choice to transform our society and resist the present forces that deny life and destroy community. It is in this spirit that the vision below is offered.

Human Rights Day Declaration 2000: A Dream for a New Millenium

As we move toward the end of the year 2000 in Hong Kong, society is like a pot of boiling water. With Tung Chee-wah’s new policy and the new economy, more wealth and power are manipulated by the hands of a few. With the advent of new greed and new oppression, people are facing more poverty and powerlessness. The dissident voices are even more suppressed; marginalized people are facing more unequal treatment. From the government to the masses, we all live under an atmosphere of confrontation and division; hatred and hopelessness are spreading. The whole society is now losing its sense of balance and direction.

Let us close our eyes and imagine that there is a society and world which allows all people and all living creatures to live with dignity and happiness. There will be no more control, exploitation, injustice, prejudice, discrimination, hurt, violence, oppression, lies and robberies. These will no longer exit.

In this new world, human beings will not face discrimination and be dehumanized because of differences of race, colour, gender, class, religion, occupation, identity, age, ability, wealth, language, social background, marital status, family responsibilities, sexual expression and mental status.

In this new world, human rights will not be exploited; the rule of law will be respected; everyone will have their rights to freedom of expression; justice will not be distorted; democracy will be realized; minorities will not be oppressed; families will not be divided for any political reason; the Earth will not be destroyed and raped because of human greed in the name of economic development; human beings will not be denied and tortured because of our prejudices towards sex. No one and no community will be oppressed. In this world, every human being will have the equal right to strive for one’s happiness. Every living creature will have the same right to live. In this world, there will be no hostility. There will only be peace and mercy.

The dream of this new world is not somewhere far away. It is here, now and in our hearts. To make this dream a reality, we must learn to listen to each other, to have mutual dialogue, understanding and inclusion. With mutual respect, we can build solidarity and overcome obstacles together. Even though we may have to face indifference and marginalization, we will not be afraid to proclaim the truth and to stand up for justice. At the same time, however, we also have to humble ourselves to reflect and to confess our inadequacies. Now is the time to wake up from our bad dreams of the present reality. Let us take action now and transform our reality into a dream of beauty and hope.