由於部份香港的立法會議員英文水平太低,連最基本的閱讀能力都沒有,因此,我們要求香港的立法會議員,在接受其議席之前,必須參加語文基準試,證明達標才可以做議員。
如果教師也要接受基準試,為甚麼立法會議員不?連李柱銘那篇文章都看不懂,就抹黑他賣國,這樣的英文能力,如何可以看得明政府的議案?為了損害香港作為「亞洲國際都市」的形象,影響外國投資者的投資意欲,或對香港經濟造成嚴重的傷害;因此我們要立新一屆的立法會議員,必須擁有英文的口語、寫作以及閱讀能力,及拿出基準試成績證明!
簽名:(請各位留 comment)
林忌
李柱銘信件原文:
當美國總統布殊接受中國國家主席胡錦濤的邀請,參觀2008年在北京舉行的奧運會時,他的新聞秘書說,「他是作為『體育愛好者』而非要擺出政治姿態去北京的」。我也是一個體育迷——尤其是世界盃足球賽——但是,我會呼籲布殊總統採取更廣大寬弘的角度,去看待北京奧運帶來的種種機遇和可能。他應該在未來的10個月裏,促使我國在基本人權,包括新聞自由、集會自由及宗教自由上取得明顯的改善。
這是有可能的。中國領導人允諾過會在這些方面取得改進。在他們對國際奧委會作出承諾後,中國各層次的領導人自此一再向世界重複保證,中國會藉覑奧運會更進一步改善,而非僅止於表面上的基礎建設。
「申辦奧運不單可推動城市建設,更可推動社會發展,包括民主和人權。」中國其中一位申辦奧運主要人物、北京副市長劉敬民2001年接受《華盛頓郵報》訪問時說。劉敬民之後還說﹕「如果人們朝覑像奧運這樣的一個目標奮進,這會有助我們建立一個更公義、更和諧的社會,一個更民主的社會,這會幫助中國融入世界。」
我太同意這些話了。不過,這些改革期盼沒有出現,中國政府似乎在這些承諾上食言開倒車,包括在香港,我們幾乎在政治上完全癱瘓,並沒有依言走向全面民主之路。人們不應放棄中國改革的前景,但總應在這些緊迫的議題上加強直接接觸對話(direct engagement)。
在接受中國的參觀奧運會邀請時,布殊總統形容,這是「中國領導人可透過決意邁向更開放更寬大、藉此機會展現自信的一刻」。改變不應止於「一刻」,中國需要的是結構上和長期的改革,令中國共產黨 服膺於法治,停止對傳媒和互聯網的桎梏,讓教徒能自由追隨信仰,停止對民間愛滋和環保維權團體的騷擾,以及回應要求問責政治制度的呼聲。布殊先生和其他參觀奧運的各國領袖,應該馬上展開不懈努力達至這些目標,而非坐待奧運會開幕。
近代奧運的歷史,令有人有理由對中國取得進步的機會感到樂觀。當南韓主辦1988年奧運時,該國仍是一個軍人獨裁國家。由於關注到可能面對尷尬,加上國際社會的參與介入(international engagement),88年奧運促成了南韓在奧運開幕前6個月開展和平的政治變革過程,最終成為了亞洲其中一個最穩定和重要的民主國家。南韓和中國的情雖然並不完全一樣,但經驗總結是,奧運肯定帶來了一個機會,就覑中國政府自己所作的承諾,提出前述的各式問題。
在美國以至其他地方,有些人正以中國政府支持蘇丹和緬甸政權為由,推動杯葛北京奧運。身為中國人,我會鼓勵支持此一想法的人,考慮一下主辦奧運接下來仍能給中國帶來的正面影響,包括讓世界各地記者監察。現在肯定是中國領導人加緊行動、有建設性地在亞洲和非洲發揮影響力的時候,藉此揭開負責任外交的新一章,說服世界認同中國並非不注視這些問題。
全球華人都對中國將會主辦奧運感到自豪。中國是世界經濟增長最快的國家,並有機會在明年8月舉辦一場史上最出色的奧運。但如果中國贏到一個又一個的金牌,但在民主、人權和法治上繼續交白卷,這能給我國帶來什麼得益呢?
我希望北京奧運能對中國政府的內政外交政策帶來催化效果,也希望中國人民在很久以來,仍會記住這次奧運——不僅是因為贏得金牌,還因為這是中國人權法治上的一個轉捩點。這會是一些值得歡呼的事。
China's Olympic Opportunity
By MARTIN LEE
October 17, 2007; Page A18
When President George W. Bush accepted President Hu Jintao's invitation to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Mr. Bush's press secretary said that he was going to the Games as "a sports fan, not to make any political statement." I too am a great sports fan -- especially of the Soccer World Cup -- but I would encourage President Bush to take a broader vision of the possibilities for the Beijing Games. He should use the next 10 months to press for a significant improvement of basic human rights in my country, including press, assembly and religious freedoms.
This should be possible, since Chinese leaders have promised to make these improvements anyway. In their pledges to the International Olympic Committee while bidding for the Games and since, China's leaders at all levels repeatedly assured the world that they would use the Games to go beyond improving the country's physical infrastructure.
"By applying for the Olympics, we want to promote not just the city's development, but the development of society, including democracy and human rights," one of China's key Olympic figures, Deputy Mayor Liu Jingmin, told the Washington Post in 2001. Then, Mr. Liu said, "If people have a target like the Olympics to strive for, it will help us establish a more just and harmonious society, a more democratic society, and help integrate China into the world."
I couldn't agree more. But instead of the hoped-for reforms, the Chinese government appears to be backsliding on its promises, including in Hong Kong where we have near total political paralysis, not the promised road to full democracy. That is no reason to give up on the prospects for reform in China. But it is reason to step up the direct engagement on these pressing issues.
In accepting the invitation to attend China's Games, President Bush said this would be "a moment where China's leaders can use the opportunity to show confidence by demonstrating a commitment to greater openness and tolerance." Instead of a "moment" of change, China needs structural and long-term reforms: placing the Communist Party under the rule of law, unshackling the media and Internet, allowing religious adherents to freely practice their faiths, ceasing harassment of civil-society groups that work on AIDS and the environment, and addressing modest calls for accountability in the political system. Mr. Bush and other world leaders planning to attend the Olympics should not wait for the opening ceremony, but must start now with sustained efforts to achieve this agenda.
One reason for optimism about the possibilities for progress in China is recent Olympic history. When South Korea bid for the 1988 Games, the country was a military dictatorship. Due in good part to the prospects for embarrassment and international engagement, the Olympics helped kick off an overdue peaceful political transformation in South Korea just six months before the launch of the Seoul Games. Since then, South Korea has endured as one of Asia's most stable and vital democracies. The parallels between South Korea and China are not exact, but the lesson is that the Olympics certainly present an opening to raise these issues in the context of the Chinese government's own promises.
In the U.S. and elsewhere, there are campaigns to boycott the Beijing Games over the Chinese government's trade with and support for regimes in Sudan and Burma. As a Chinese person, I would encourage backers of these efforts to consider the positive effects Olympic exposure could still have in China, including scrutiny by the world's journalists. This is certainly the time for Chinese leaders to step up and constructively use their clout in Asia and Africa. In so doing, Beijing should open a new chapter of responsible foreign policy and convince the world it is not oblivious to these issues.
Chinese people around the world are proud that China will host the Games. China has the world's fastest growing economy, and may indeed put on history's most impressive Olympic Games next August. But how does it profit our nation if it wins gold medals but suffers from the continued absence of democracy, human rights and the rule of law?
It is my hope that the Games could have a catalytic effect on the domestic and foreign policies of the Chinese government, and that the Chinese people will remember the Games long after they are held -- not merely for medals won, but also because they were a turning point for human rights and the rule of law in China. That would be something worth cheering.
Mr. Lee is a democratically elected legislator and the founding chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic
Party.