SCMP A1 cover for 1997-01-20

Ahead of Hong Kong's June 30 handover to China, Beijing prepared to repeal 16 of the territory's laws and modify nine others, including key provisions in the Bill of Rights. This was according to recommendations by the China-appointed Preparatory Committee’s legal subgroup after reviewing all 624 laws. The group listed 25 pieces of legislation that had to be repealed in full or in part because they were considered inconsistent with Hong Kong's Basic Law mini-constitution. The recommendations were set to be adopted by the Preparatory Committee and then handed to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China's parliament, for approval. Legal subgroup member Tam Yiu-chung said removing the laws would not create a legal vacuum. However a Hong Kong Government spokesman said the recommendations were “sadly predictable and a retrograde step which will deal a body blow to human rights protection in Hong Kong”. The front page also covers: Hong Kong's Democrats slam the proposed repealing of Hong Kong’s laws, Steffi Graf loses to Amanda Coetzer in the Australian Open tennis, activists set ablaze an Iranian cultural centre in Pakistan, and convicted sex offenders use Hong Kong subway trains as a hunting ground.

A1 cover for the South China Morning Post