Form of Government: Under the treaty between Great Britain and the People's Republic of China (PRC) governing the return of Hong Kong, the PRC agreed to the formula of "One Country, Two Systems." In accordance with whose terms, the PRC guaranteed that Hong Kong could keep its capitalist system, including open access to information upon which Hong Kong's banks and stock market depend. It is important to note that Hong Kong, for most of its history, was little more than a colonial enclave which assured Britain a toehold in that part of Asia and which China used as a buffer zone between itself and the West. Neither power was much concerned with the political rights of the governed. But Hong Kong is also an example of how a system can change, because by the time of its handover to the PRC, it had become very nearly self-governing with more choices being offered to more people. That is why today, both in terrestrial matters, and on the Internet, Hong Kong has such a lively presence, far outweighing the actual number of people and websites involved. There are voices representing almost every shade of opinion in Hong Kong, even, anecdotally, though this could not be confirmed, a Manchu pretender who is in waiting should the PRC decide to change its mind and want the Emperor back. But this rich, loud sense of democracy could be imperiled.

Who's In Charge: In formal, legal matters, Hong Kong now has two sets of rules which could come into conflict. A recent grant by the Open Society Institute to the Hong Kong Voice of Democracy was met with the suggestion, via an editorial in the Hong Kong Standard, that the activities of one of the members of the Hong Kong group could lead to an introduction of Article 23 of PRC law, which is aimed at crimes of "subversion, treason, secession, sedition and theft of state secrets." Article 23 is currently in abeyance in Hong Kong, but the suggestion that it could be implemented is a chilling one. The conditions that the PRC set down regarding what is legal/illegal in Internet use are pertaining to many of the same issues, and Britain did sign off on the inclusion of Article 23 in the Basic Law.

There is, however, a countervailing force---ironically, just at the time when the United States and European Union (E.U.) have been disagreeing with each other over the "rules of the road" for digital privacy Hong Kong has set up a Privacy Commission, which is by law, independent of law enforcement and courts. Deputy Privacy Commissioner Robin McLeish stated: "The Ordinance that set up the Privacy Commission was passed in 1995 and took full force at the end of 1996. The charter, which was set up to be compliant with the E.U. directives is to enforce and promote individual privacy in relation to personal data. There is no comparable organization in the PRC." McLeish notes that the agreement which returned Hong Kong to the PRC allowed Hong Kong to keep its law and constitution. Since the Privacy Commission is a direct product of that law, to act against it, or against persons in Hong Kong, was contrary to its charter would be a clear violation of the agreement. At a time when the PRC is also preparing to take over governance of Macao, and holding talks with Taipei, it seems unlikely that the PRC would also act in a way that would indicate that there is no intent in Beijing to hold to agreements.

However, the suggestion can be chilling. Presently in Hong Kong there is no blockage of any Internet Site for any reasons at all. Deputy Commissioner McLeish states that there have been prosecutions of people for posting obscene material to the Internet, but these were undertake under the "Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance" by a prosecutor, not by the Privacy Commission.

The site check was run on October 9 at CyberX an Internet Café at 17-19 Chatham Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Some still views of the interior are available here. (Legend: (+) = was accessible and (-) = not accessible.)

CNN (+)
ABC (+)
DowJones (+)
Amnesty International (+)
GILC (Global Internet Liberty Campaign) (+)
Planned Parenthood (+)
Playboy (+)
Penthouse (+)
Jennycam.com (now known as Jenny's Playhouse, a hard core adult site) (+)
Thule.org (a political site leaning towards overt fascist sympathies) (+)
China News Digest, (a blocked site in the PRC) (+)
Far Eastern Economic Review (a publication that sometimes antagonizes governments in the region) (+)

 

Anthony Lee, 32 years old is the owner/founder of CyberX, which opened on October 9, 1997. Lee estimates his traffic at 70 percent foreign tourists who come in to check email and 30 percent locals who are more diverse. Actual members of CyberX can have personal Internet pages put up for them and Lee says about 300 have done so, making CyberX actually more than a cybercafe, but also a small Internet Service Provider using four servers. Although no payment method is possible on the Internet pages set up for members, other commerce and contact information is available. The peak hours of usage are in the afternoon, after lunch and after dinner.

Lee did not have to acquire any special permit to open or build CyberX, he just "had to explain to a group of people who had no idea what it was I was talking about, what I would need to set this place up." Lee cited several factors in the slower than expected take off of the Internet in Hong Kong: "Certainly the changeover scared some people, but it was more that it created uncertainty in many other minds. It's also the various uses and applications that have slowed things down." Lee also cites the present monopoly telecomm situation in Hong Kong as a stumbling block. New lines in Hong Kong, whether for personal or business use cost $600 (Hong Kong dollars) per line-one reason why cell phones are so popular in Hong Kong, but cellphones cannot give total Internet capability as yet. Lee doesn't know of any members using their Internet pages for contact/commerce information, but he would not be tracking it if there were.

The members at CyberX constitute only a fraction of the users of the facility, and the facility is within walking distance of several major transit hubs-subway, bus and ferry. Sitting in his Beijing Office, Wang Song, the Business Development Director for E@STNET, remarked: "Even if we wired up everyone in every city in China, the real China is still outside the city, in the rural areas, and these are the people who need the information the most. When we can reach those people and give them the information they need and want, whether it is weather forecasting or commodity prices, or anything else they are needing, then we can say that the ChinaNet, or the Internet is really in China." Actually, Mr. Wang may be closer than he realizes to the truth, the United Nations Development Program is working on several pilot projects that are meant to do exactly that. But it could take a very long time.

And in that time, a very nervous Hong Kong could be looking over its shoulder at the Ultimate Big Brother-or there is yet another possibility: by accepting the "One Government, Two Systems," the PRC may have bought for itself a kind of huge testbed facility. If Beijing wants to see what the effects are of an uncontrolled Internet, and weight the pros and cons, they have only to look to Hong Kong. Just as they would if they want to see the effects of letting market forces determine certain situations.