Foreign Office raises Hong Kong civil rights concerns

The proposals, which focus on curbing the right to demonstrate and banning foreign funding of local political groups, were revised after strong public protests. However, Britain has still dismissed the proposals as a "step backwards".

A Foreign Office statement declared: "The proposals contained unnecessary restrictions and rightly aroused widespread concern both in Hong Kong and internationally."

Reflecting the pledge of the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, to make human rights a central concern in foreign policy, the statement continued: "The British government is committed to defending Hong Kong people's human rights and firmly believes that the law must continue to protect civil liberties in Hong Kong."

Michael Suen, an aide to Hong Kong's leader-in-waiting Tung Chee-hwa, defended the Chinese proposals, pointing out that they had been revised following extensive public consultations. Mr Suen emphasised that the notion of "national security" would dominate Hong Kong's laws after the handover. Some analysts expect that this will lead to the outlawing of protests supporting independence for Tibet and Taiwan, which China regards as its sovereign territory.

The Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, argued that the modified proposals were virtually the same as the original ones. "They still introduce the concept of having to seek permission to demonstrate," Mr Patten said. "And they still confuse public order considerations with the totally separate and nebulous notion of 'national security'," he said.