wfn.org | HONG KONG: NEW LEADER REASSURES CHRISTIANS

[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

Title:HONG KONG: NEW LEADER REASSURES CHRISTIANS
July 11, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon James Rosenthal,Director of Communications, 
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

ACC 1285 

HONG KONG: NEW LEADER REASSURES CHRISTIANS

(ENI) Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa,  has guaranteed to a
major Church gathering that Hong Kong's religious freedoms - both of
individuals and organisations  - will not be tampered with following the
return of the territory to China.

In one of his first public engagements since he took over as the 
administrator of Hong Kong on 1 July, Tung Chee-hwa welcomed the
Lutheran World Federation to Hong Kong where it is holding its ninth
assembly. In a speech clearly intended to reassure local churches and
the Christian community worldwide, he said that the LWF's choice of
assembly site "demonstrated eloquently your confidence in the future of
Hong Kong".

Mr Tung, a  multi-millionaire Hong Kong businessman chosen by Beijing to
run the territory  now that it has been reunited with the People's
Republic, received standing ovations from the 900 delegates and visitors
on his arrival and departure in the convention hall.  

His tone in his speech was optimistic and upbeat, beginning with a 
declaration that the citizens of Hong Kong were filled with pride that, 
after 156 years under British rule, "Hong Kong people took on
responsibility for Hong Kong affairs".  He praised the  "one country,
two systems" concept devised by Beijing to allow Hong Kong to maintain
its freedoms under Chinese sovereignty. 

"The government of the People's Republic of China has granted Hong Kong
a high degree of autonomy and a lifestyle that will not change for a
long, long, long time to come," he said.

Mr Tung went out of his way to specify that Churches will not suffer
because of the change of sovereignty.

"One of the freedoms that my government will preserve is, of course,
freedom of religion," Tung Chee-hwa said.

He then read to the assembly the provisions of Article 141 of the Basic
Law of Hong Kong, which was adopted in 1990 by the Beijing government.

(Article 141 guarantees that:   The government of the Hong Kong Special 
Administrative Region shall not restrict the freedom of religious
belief, interfere in the internal affairs of religious organisations or
restrict religious activities which do not contravene the laws of the
region;   Religious organisations will retain the rights to own, buy and
sell property, and receive assistance;Religious organisations may
continue to run seminaries, schools, hospitals and welfare institutions;
Religious organisations and believers may maintain and develop their
relations with organisations and believers elsewhere.)

Such a clear confirmation from the new chief executive is likely to
allay any fears among Hong Kong's Churches that they would be subject to
the state regulations governing religious  practice in the rest of the
People's Republic of China. However those local Christians sceptical of
the Beijing government's guarantees for Hong Kong believe that any
changes to the present situation will be made gradually, and in the
long-term rather than immediately.  About 8 per cent of Hong Kong's
population of 6.4 million is Christian.  

Hong Kong has about 50 denominations, with about 260 000 Protestants
and a similar number of Roman Catholics.  Most Hong Kong residents are 
followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism or of mixtures of the three 
faiths.

KENYA: POLICE STORM CATHEDRAL

(Edited from reports by  Sam Gonza, ENI, The Independent Newspaper, The 
Times) In scenes of unprecedented mayhem and carnage, Kenyan
paramilitary police stormed All Saints Anglican Cathedral, Nairobi,  on
7 July attacking pro-reform advocates who were sheltering inside and
leaving the cathedral covered with blood and the pews broken and
scattered.

The pro-reform advocates had sought refuge inside the cathedral after
having been ejected from the nearby Uhuru gardens, one of the venues for
a number of rallies taking place to demand constitutional reforms ahead
ofelections due by the end of the year. The rallies had been banned by
the government of President Daniel arap Moi who described the reformists
as "anarchists" and warned that police "would be out in full force". 

Police threw tear gas canisters inside the Cathedral and then moved in 
wielding truncheons. An elderly opposition MP and several dozen other 
individuals bled profusely as other victims groaned with pain in the
pews.

The provost of All Saints, Peter Njoka, who was conducting a prayer
service when police stormed the Cathedral, described the police action
as "the height of moral degeneration".

"This is hardly the action of a government that professes Christianity,"
he said.

Altogether, it has been reported that ten people died, including one 
policeman, and scores of others were injured in various parts of Kenya
as police using tear gas, truncheons, rubber bullets and live ammunition
broke up demonstrations calling for democratic reform.

The rallies were called by the National Convention Council to demand 
constitutional reforms and an independent electoral commission.

Timothy Njoya, an outspoken cleric belonging to the Presbyterian Church
of East Africa, and one of the conveners of yesterday's rally in
Nairobi, was beaten senseless and left bleeding profusely from a head
wound. He was rushed to the Central Nairobi Hospital where he was kept
overnight in intensive care.

Police set upon him in the precincts of the Cathedral on 7 July
afternoon, about an hour after the storming of the Cathedral.  The Revd
Njoya appears to have tried to talk to the police officers before he was
attacked.

After the demonstrations in central Nairobi were dispersed,
demonstrators moved to the east of the city where they fought running
battles with police, according to reports.

Last Saturday (5 July), the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nairobi, Ndingi 
Mwana'a Nzeki, urged the organisers of the demonstrations to call them
off.

"They should ask for licences for the reform rallies persistently and
resort to other means only after exhausting all legal channels", he 
implored.

But the Anglican Archbishop of Kenya, David Gitari, said that the
government should not intervene.

"We don't want chaos in this country.  It is only fair that the
government does not disrupt  the rallies," Archbishop Gitari said.

The Times added the report that clergymen, MPs and a group of Kenyans
were at prayer when President arap Moi sent in the riot police into the 
cathedral.  The police tear gassed worshippers and thrashed MPs with
pick axe handles. Through the tear gas  the Revd Timothy Njoya,
Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, advanced towards
them with his hands raised in surrender and he was kicked to the ground
and savagely clubbed on the head. 

In Nairobi, many of the civilians who were not participating in the 
demonstrations were seized at random, battered with pick axe handles and 
robbed by military, police and KenyaUs feared paramilitary General
Service Unit.

The Independent using Reuters added that at least four people were
killed when police broke up protests, badly beating organisers of
opposition-backed rallies and firing tear gas, rubber bullets and live
rounds.  ...Witnesses said that the General Service Unit and police
fired tear gas inside NairobiUs All Saints Cathedral and beat several
demonstrators, including Muturi Kigano, Chairman of the  unregistered
Safina party, and opposition members  Kamau Icharia and Njoka Mutani.

Statement by the Primate of Southern Africa on the situation in Kenya

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Njongonkulu
Ndungane, has expressed shock and outrage at attacks on pro-reform 
protesters in Kenya yesterday, in which at least ten people are reported
to have died.

The Archbishop said he was particularly incensed at the way in which
police officers beat demonstrators during a service in Nairobi All
SaintUs Anglican Cathedral. They also fired teargas into the Cathedral
during the attacks.

Archbishop Ndungane said his office had been in touch with the Anglican 
Church in Kenya to express his condolences and concern.

Canon Enos Ashimala, the Provincial Secretary of the Church of the
Province of the Kenya, said that as a result of the attack, the
Cathedral had been desecrated, and all services suspended until Sunday
13 July, when a ceremony of cleansing will be held.

He said that several people in the Cathedral had been badly beaten in
the attack, with blood streaming from their wounds.

Archbishop Ndungane said he welcomed the news from Canon Ashimala that
an apology has been given for the attack, but noted that it had taken
place even after an assurance from a senior police officer that the
ChurchUs activities would be respected.

Archbishop Ndungane said the attacks on protesters were reminiscent of 
the oppression of the worst days of apartheid, and called on the Kenyan 
government to take heed of the Kenyan peopleUs demand on it to initiate
reform and dialogue with elected leaders.

He said the attack brought to mind an incident in June 1972, in which 
students protesting on the steps of St GeorgeUs Cathedral, Cape Town,
had been attacked by police, chased into the Cathedral, and beaten.

Update from ENI on 10 July

(ENI) Churches and Church leaders from around the world have protested 
against the violent suppression this week of pro-democracy
demonstrations in Kenya.

At least ten people have been killed, and many others injured, in the
violence which began on Monday as police suppressed pro-reform
demonstrations, and which continued yesterday when heavily armed
police stormed the campus of the University of Nairobi, beating students
and lecturers.

Canon Enos Ashimala, the provincial secretary of the (Anglican) Church
of the Province of Kenya, said that the Cathedral had been desecrated
as a result of the attack and that all services would be suspended until
Sunday 13 July, when a service of cleansing would be held.

The Revd Timothy Njoya was reported yesterday by a Nairobi hospital to
have been taken off the danger list.

Episcopal Appointments

The Revd Canon Neville Chamberlain, Rector of St JohnUs Church,
Edinburgh, has been elected Bishop of Brechin, the Scottish Episcopal
Church.

The Revd Leonard Whitten, Rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in
the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, has been elected
Bishop Coadjutor for the Diocese of Western Newfoundland, Anglican
Church of Canada.  He will succeed the Most Revd Stewart Payne who will
retire on 31 October. 

Other Appointments

Saw Kenneth, has been appointed General Secretary of the Church of the 
Province of Myanmar.