Joint statement on Hong Kong accord On September 26, 1984, the governments of China and Britain signed an agreement to restore Chinese sovereignty over the British colony of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997.
As of that date, Hong Kong will become a Special Administrative Region of China, with a large measure of internal autonomy.
In an annex to the agreement, the Chinese government stipulated "that after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the socialist system and socialist policies shall not be practiced in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and that Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and life style shall remain unchanged for 50 years."
British rule over Hong Kong dates back to the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, which ended the first of the infamous Opium Wars that Britain fought to force China's Qing dynasty to open the country to British opium sellers.
A second piece of territory was taken by the British under the 1860 Convention of Peking, and the largest part was seized in 1898, when the Chinese government was forced to grant the British a 99-year lease on the area known as the New Territories.
That lease expires on June 30, 1997. The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) rejected British calls for an extension of the lease.
Of Hong Kong's 5 million inhabitants, 98 percent are Chinese.
The following "joint statement on the draft agreement between the PRC government and the UK (United Kingdom) government on the future of Hong Kong" was published by the Hong Kong Trotskyists. The statement was issued October 12 by the publications October Review and Combat News Monthly and by the Revolutionary Marxist League.
The translation from the Chinese is by the statement's authors.
1. The decision of the Chinese government to recover sovereignty over Hong Kong is of historically progressive significance. Over 140 years of British colonial rule is to be gone forever. Therefore, the recovery of sovereignty over Hong Kong by the Chinese government should be affirmed and supported by all the people of China (including the people of Hong Kong). 2. The Chinese people have always considered Hong Kong a part of Chinese territory; the three unequal treaties that Britain forced the Quing court to sign must be unconditiorally abrogated; the British imperialists and their colonial regime must unconditionally withdraw from Hong Kong.
However, the Chinese government agreed with the British imperialists to recover sovereignty over Hong Kong only beginning 1 July, 1997. This is not only a recognition of the unequal treaty which leased the New Territories, but is also in practice recognition of the legality of British rule of Hong Kong based on the unequal treaties. This is a serious political mistake. 3. In fact, the British imperialists are not willing to return Hong Kong. In the Introduction of the White Paper published by the UK government, the UK government admitted that it had tried to persuade the Chinese government to allow its continued occupation of Hong Kong. When this attempt failed, the British, under the pretext to "maintain the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong" and through secret negotiations, sought to intervene in Hong Kong's internal affairs after the return of sovereignty.
The strategy of the British imperialists is to have the Chinese government state in detail in the Joint Declaration policies that can extend British influence and economic interests. The British imperialists further demand that the Chinese government sign "a legally binding international agreement" to commit itself to the British in the practice of the related policies. 4. The British government is obviously extorting the Chinese government with the condition of returning sovereignty over Hong Kong in order that Britain, after it is obliged to return sovereignty over Hong Kong, can have the legal basis for widely interfering in Hong Kong's internal affairs and maintaining certain economic privileges.
The British government at the same time threatens the Hong Kong people
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that "the alternative to acceptance of the present agreement is to have no agreement." It requires the Hong Kong people to accept the agreement "as a whole." The British imperialists are making use of the Hong Kong people's fear of CCP the Hond Kond noons for of CAp [Chinese Communist Party] bureaucratic rule to cheat the Hong Kong people to accept an international agreement that allows Britain to legally intervene in China's internal affairs. 5. On August 18, we sent a Memorandum to the State Council of the PRC via the Hong Kong New China News Agency, in which we urged the Chinese government to stand firmly on the principle of independence of sovereignty, and demanded that the Chinese government refuse to sign with the British imperialists any agreement that includes Hong Kong's internal affairs after the recovery of sovereignty.
In the Memorandum, we solemnly pointed out that the Chinese government should mobilize the strength of the Hong Kong masses and assist the Hong Kong people to convene a generally elected, full powered Hong Kong General Assembly to end colonial rule and to practice democratic rule of Hong Kong by the Hong Kong people. 6. Now, the Chinese government puts in detail, in the Joint Declaration (in effect an international agreement) and the Annexes, its policies regarding Hong Kong after the recovery of sovereignty. The Chinese government further declares that it will enact a Basic Law of Hong Kong based on the related content in the Joint Declaration and the Annexes.
We consider that this not only violates the country's sovereignty but also deprives the Hong Kong people of the right to democratically decide Hong Kong's future social system and policies. Therefore, we solemnly state that: A. China's policies towards Hong Kong after recovery of sovereignty over Hong Kong belong entirely to China's domestic affairs, and must not be intervened in by the British imperialists; the British imperialists must withdraw from Hong Kong unconditionally. B. The Chinese people possess full autonomy from any intervention of foreign countries, and the full right at present and in the future to decide the domestic affairs of China.
On the question of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong people possess the democratic right to decide the policies in Hong Kong. The Chinese people absolutely reject the Chinese government's inclusion of its policies towards Hong Kong in an international agreement, which allows the British to intervene in China's domestic affairs. 7. Since the British imperialists have long been practising colonial rule in Hong Kong, British capitalists occupy monopoly positions in Hong Kong's important sectors such as the financial, monetary, air travel, electricity, communications, and public transport sectors, and dominate Hong Kong's economic lifelines.
Therefore, the Chinese government's 20 agreement to guarantee that the prevail- ialists to unconditionally withdraw from ing social and economic systems in Hong Hong Kong. The Hong Kong people will,
Kong will remain unchanged for 63 years, and its enactment of various concrete policies to ensure that the "economic interests [of the United Kingdom and other countries] in Hong Kong will be given due regard," will help the economic privileges of the imperialist countries to persist.
As a result, although sovereignty over Hong Kong belongs to China, Hong Kong will, with the approval of the Chinese government, be open to the economic plunder of the imperialist countries. The latter can also make use of their economically superior status to influence the international affairs of Hong Kong. 8. Under British colonial rule, the Hong Kong people have long been under oppression. The people's political freedoms are supressed. They are deprived of basic democratic rights. The mother language and culture are discriminated against. The right to education for students is seriously restricted. Mass actions of workers, residents, and young students to defend their rights are frequently repressed.
Now, the Chinese government uses the pretext of "maintaining stability and prosperity" to flagrantly express support and "give its cooperation" to the illegal and repressive rule of the colonial regime.
We consicler that the wrong policies of the Chinese government seriously violate the dignity and interests of the Chinese (including Hong Kong) people. 9. Under the protection of the British colonial regime, monopoly-capital corporations seize huge profits relying on the very low profit-tax system and the laissezfaire policies on foreign currency and finance. On the other hand, social welfare and public services are seriously insufficient; employment and livelihood of the labouring people are not safeguarded; the gap between the rich and the poor widens.
Therefore, the continuation of the capitalist systern without change means in effect defense of the monopoly and exploitation by the established interests. For the labouring people who constitute the great majority of the population, the policy of the Chinese government to defend the capitalists will make it more difficult for them to get rid of the oppression and exploitation. 10. We consider that the aim of the Chinese government's recovery of sovereignty must be to assist the Hong Kong labouring people to obtain liberation. Therefore, the Chinese government, at the same time that it recovers sovereignty over Hong Kong, should assist the Hong Kong people in the convening of a generally elected Hong Kong General Assembly so that the Hong Kong people have the full right to decide on how to recover sovereignty and carry out various social changes.
In this way, the aid of the Chinese people and the mobilization of the Hong Kong masses will force British imperin this course, establish a democratic, self-rule people's government and decide Hong Kong's political, economic, and social systems, and the relationship with mainland China. 11. The Chinese government has refused to adopt the above correct policies; this is the result of the Chinese Communist Party's one-party dictatorship and bureaucratic rule. The bureaucratic rule has constituted a serious obstacle to China's socialist construction and to the liberation of the Hong Kong masses.
The CCP fears that mobilization of the Hong Kong people to recover sovereignty will very probably impel the Hong Kong people to go on the road demanding class liberation and democratic self-rule. The CP fears further that the independent, autonomous mobilization of the Hong Kong masses will stimulate the struggle of the people in China to fight for socialist democracy and to get rid of the CCP's bureaucratic rule. 12. In order to alleviate the Hong Kong people's skepticism and fear of the CCP bureaucratic rule, the Chinese government is obliged to concede and "promise" limited self-rule for Hong Kong. From the Tien An Men Event (1) to the democracy movement in China, to the recent CCP policies to carry out economic readjustment, and limited improvement of the people's livelihood, it has been shown that the strength of the masses cannot be slighted. The Hong Kong people should grasp the opportunity to mobilize and strive for demo13. Political democratization of the whole country is an indispensable prerequisite for the unification of a nation. At present, the National People's Congress is not produced by general election. It is an instrument of rule by the privileged bureaucracy. It cannot represent the wishes and will of the Chinese people (including the Hong Kong people). Only through a democratically elected National People's Congress and through the practice of socialist democracy and legal system, with the people as master of the country, can the firm basis be laid for the unification of the nation.
Therefore, we appeal to the people of China (including Hong Kong) to: A. Oppose all articles of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Annexes that violate the principle of sovereignty and that breach the interests of the Chinese (including Hong Kong) people. 1. Thousands of people gathered in Peking's Tien An Men Square on April 1, 1976, to commemorate the death of Prime Minister Chou En-lai. They were soon joined by other Peking residents with grievances against the government's policies, and for several days the crowds grew larger and larger.
On April 5, 1976, the government ordered police to remove wreaths and posters from the square. An angry crowd gathered, swelling to more than 100,000 at its height. Throughout the day, demonstrators battled police trying to clear the square. Thousands were assaulted and arrested.
International Viewpoint 25 February 1985
B. Demand that the Chinese government assist the Hong Kong people to convene a generally elected, full-powered General Assembly, recover sovereignty as soon as possible, and practise democratic self-rule of the Hong Kong people. C. Compel the Chinese government to at once carry out radical democratic changes, abolish one-party dictatorship and bureaucratic privileges, practice socialist democracy and legal system, and return the government to the people.
We also appeal to the Hong Kong people to: A. Organize and take the initiative to conLIBERATION THEOLOGY.
vene a generally elected and full-powered Hong Kong General Assembly, end colonial rule, and democratically elect a self-rule government. B. Actively start the discussion on the drafting of the Basic Law, strive for the democratic enactment of the Basic Law by the Hong Kong people, and realize the democratic rule of Hong Kong by the Hong Kong people. C. Be closely concerned with the political economic and social developments in China, join forces with the people in the mainland, and struggle together for the practice of socialist democracy in China.• for liberation. If not they will almost certainly not be understood.
Q. Why does the Church react so negatively to liberation theology?
A. I cannot give you a definitive answer. But I would like to underline certain aspects. The response from Rome is not wholly negative; but it is mainly negative. Subjectively speaking, there is a real anxiety on the part of the Vatican to safeguard the integrity of the faith.
But the way that this anxiety is expressed and the positions which flow from this demonstrate, in my view, a misunderstanding of what liberation theology is all about.
This misunderstanding is very likely explained by the distance which Roman officials have from the struggle against oppression. For it was in this context that liberation theology was born and continues to grow. These ideas are proved in struggle. Leonardo Boff (one of the main proponents of liberation theology who was interrogated by Rome last September) it seems invited his hosts in Rome to accompany him to Brazil to see the CEBs at work and to see the favellas (the shanty towns in Brazil).
Q. Exactly what are the stakes involved in liberation theology?
A. It's a question of god and the Bible. It's a matter of knowing that the poor and the weak will no longer submit to oppression, that they will be treated according to the dignity which they have in the eyes of god. This is important because christians are aware of this and are turning their hopes towards Nicaragua, for example. They see good reasons to get involved in the revolutionary process underway in this country. By the same token they note with alarm the silence of Rome in the face of the aggression which Nicaragua is being subjected to when all it is trying to do is to build a more brotherly society, in fact one more in conformity with god's will.
Q. The influence of Marxists is one of the things main accusations made by Rome against liberation theology. What does this recourse to Marxism consist of and why does Rome attach so much importance to it?
A. Marxism for liberation theology provides a useful tool for understanding the mechanisms through which oppression is transmitted to whole populations, mainly in the Third World. To put it simply, what we borrow from Marxism is the method of analysis of society. However, Marxism as an atheist philosophy is explicitly rejected.
On the other hand, Rome considers that it is not possible to separate Marx's method of analysis of society and his philosphy. The theologists of liberation take an opposite view, and one which is also held by many Marxists themselves. 1. Charles Maurras was a leader of Action Francaise before the Second World War in France and a right-wing theoretician.