A proposed expansion of Hong Kong’s anti-discrimination laws to give mainland Chinese people protected status – recently revived after years of lobbying – must be narrow in scope, legal experts have warned, lest the changes chip away at freedom of expression.
“There are also concerns that in the present context, the government is already using laws to stifle freedom of expression, which is not being protected adequately in legislation or by judicial interpretation,” he added, alluding to the Beijing-imposedErick Tsang unveiled plans to expand local anti-discrimination laws at a Legco meeting on Monday. Photo: May Tse
“In fact, international human rights bodies have called on the Hong Kong government on several occasions to prohibit such discrimination within our existing anti-discrimination laws,” she said.The United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, she noted, had recommended including “immigration status” as grounds for discrimination under the law.
A mainland Chinese man who was harassed and tied up by protesters at Hong Kong International Airport who suspected he was a spy. Photo: Sam Tsang, when black-clad protesters on various occasions assaulted mainlanders perceived as sympathetic to, or even spies for, Beijing. Certain businesses that supported the cause also refused to serve mainland customers.
HKU’s Loper said that if authorities intended to turn any discriminatory act into a criminal offence, a high threshold requiring proof of serious vilification or hate speech would be needed.Law lecturer Darcy Davison-Roberts, Loper’s colleague at HKU, noted that the Race Discrimination Ordinance already gave police the power to investigate in serious cases.
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