Hong Kong leader backs down on bill

Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Tung Chee-hwa, has abandoned plans to enact a controversial anti-subversion law this year rather than risk a repeat of July's huge protests that plunged the territory into its worst crisis since the handover from British rule in 1997.

The climbdown is a new blow to the credibility of the chief executive, who had promised to reopen public consultation on the legislation this month, despite concerns it would curb civil liberties.

Mr Tung said the indefinite postponement was the result of public unease about the law, which critics said would erode the press and religious freedoms granted to Hong Kong under the "one country, two systems" formula for transfer of sovereignty to China.

Under its mini-constitution, Hong Kong is obliged to outlaw sedition, subversion and treason. But opponents said Mr Tung's bill went too far in proposing greater powers for the police, introducing life imprisonment for more offences, and eroding protection for journalists and their sources.

Fears that the legislation marked an attempt to impose Beijing-style controls brought more than half a million demonstrators on to the streets in July in the biggest protest since the Tiananmen Square unrest of 1989.

To placate public fury, the unpopular security and finance ministers have been replaced, the bill's proposals have been watered down, and the government in Beijing has introduced a series of measures, including easing of travel restrictions, aimed at boosting the Hong Kong economy.

Mr Tung also made a public show of his willingness to compromise by meeting for the first time his greatest critic, the Democratic party leader, Martin Lee.

Yesterday, however, the chief executive acknowledged he had failed to win over a doubtful public.

"The community still has concerns about the content of the bill. To give the public more time to understand the bill, we have decided to withdraw it," he told reporters, vowing to concentrate on the weak economy.

For the chief executive's political masters in Beijing, the withdrawal represents a strategic retreat rather than a surrender to people power. Analysts said the delay was designed to minimise the damage to Beijing's supporters in next year's election for the territory's legislative council.

Communist party leaders in Beijing hope that as the economy improves, Hong Kong residents will lose their enthusiasm for democratic activism.

"After the demonstration in July, people realised that talking about politics can be effective," said one commentator, Gilles Guiheux of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.

"That was a big change, but it is difficult to keep them mobilised."