| Abstract | With just seven months to go before Hong Kong's return to Chinese control, Governor Chris Patten introduced a bill that seeks to define what does, and does not, constitute acts of subversion. The protest from China was as predictable as the praise from local advocates of democracy. The underlying principle of Patten's bill is that the local government should not be able to punish someone who merely criticizes it, only those who resort to force or violence. In China, the state chastises what it deems acts of subversion, violent or otherwise. |
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