關於 regional security in international relations ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

定宇分享台灣相關外交區域安全消息…美國外交第二號人物副國務卿Wendy Sherman在日本東京接受專訪，提到美、日共同關注的三個議題：南海自由航行、反對單方面改變東海現況、維持台海和平穩定，另外也就記者提問的北韓非核化議題回應。

這再次證明，「台海和平穩定」是國際自由民主國家共同關切的重要議題之一，美日同盟的涵蓋範圍包括台海，美國從川普到拜登，看到在QUAD、G-7、歐盟、NATO等國際組織，以及各種2+2會議，美日透過多邊關係，逐漸加深「台海和平穩定（台灣安全）」是自由民主國家對中共政權劃下的「共同紅線」，這對台灣的穩定發展是非常正面的國際發展趨勢。

TOKYO — Wendy Sherman, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, sat down with reporters from Nikkei Asia and other Japanese media outlets on Wednesday to discuss the region’s most pressing security issues.

The wide-ranging discussion covered Taiwan, relations with China and North Korean denuclearization, among other topics. Sherman stressed that President Joe Biden’s administration is willing to engage with both Beijing and Pyongyang, while it looks to shore up its Indo-Pacific alliances.

We share important regional and global security concerns. During my meetings, I reaffirmed the United States’ absolute commitment to the defense of Japan. My Japanese counterparts and I discussed our commitment to maintain an inclusive, free, peaceful, stable and open Indo-Pacific region and our mutual opposition to activities that undermine, destabilize or threaten the rules-based international order. That includes maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and opposing any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea. We discussed the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and the need to oppose destabilizing and coercive behavior in the Indo-Pacific.

During this unusual year, it has been an added pleasure to welcome visitors to the Istana. Met Australian Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds today. Two weeks ago, her colleague Foreign Minister Marise Payne also paid a visit.

Singapore and Australia enjoy close and long-standing bilateral defence relations and military cooperation. The SAF also marks the 30th anniversary of their training in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area this year. In March we signed a treaty-level agreement on the joint development of training areas and advanced training facilities in Queensland, and since then have made steady progress.

Minister Reynolds and I had a good discussion on the regional and international security challenges, and how we can address them together. I look forward to deepening the strong cooperation between our countries. – LHL

(MCI Photo by Fyrol)

【國際人權公約：沒有民主 那有國安】

今日具中國特色的「國家安全」定義廣闊無疆，早於90年代已經惹來英方高度關注，尤其於90年代確立香港人權法案後，各種有「國家安全」成分的殖民條例需要大幅檢視其潛在違反人權的條文，從中就可更清楚看出對「國家安全」、「勾結外國勢力」等含糊概念的英方視覺。

一份近年才解密的英檔（FCO 40 3731 Hong Kong Bill of Rights: Societies Amendment Bill）【註一】，透露當年英國外交部已就與國家安全相關的《社團條例》研究「大裝修」，由其法律顧問Jill Barrett指出條文6(2)條：「如果社團有與外國政治性團體有聯繫，保安局局長可以禁止該分支機構運作」本身已經明顯與《香港人權法案》有衝突 （is clearly incompatible with BoR Article 18(2)），亦指明從人權法案保障的框架裡，即使外國社團分部存在破壞與其他國家的關係，也不應成為限制結社自由的理據 (Damage to relations with another country is not one of the grounds on which Article 18(2) BoR permits freedom of association to be restricted)。由此可見，社團條例中的「勾結外國勢力」條文，也有劃出一條保障自由權利的「基本底線」，亦是為了防止政權可輕易地將任何與外國組織合作的形式扣上勾結外國勢力罪名。

此外，當年英方也有考慮中方對於《社團條例》修訂時的反對聲音。檔案中可見英國駐華大使麥若彬 (Robin McLaren) 承認，中英雙方對於「威脅國家安全」的理解相差甚遠 (very different perceptions of what might constitute threats to security)，而港英政府當時表明不會接受中方對顛覆的定義（have never accepted the chinese definition of “subversion”)，其中更強調保障香港市民的言論自由與及不會打壓本地之組織。現時訂立港版國安法時聲稱《基本法》中的自由權利會繼續受到保障，但實際上條文及定義卻廣闊得深不見底，明顯看到英方對於運用國安理由針對社團之大不同。

在解密檔案裡，英方法律顧問Jill Barrett有個相當重要的提醒，就是旦凡要動用國安理由而定豁免人權法保障，不只是要真正為了國家安全利益 (genuinely in the interests of national security)，同時更「在民主社會是必須」(necessary in a democratic society)，意味著沒有民主體制，就不能以國安之名豁免各種人權保障，此乃聯合國於60年代訂立《公民權利及政治權利國際公約》(ICCPR) 時由法國提案加入的前提【註二】，現時《基本法》亦訂明須遵守《公民權利及政治權利國際公約》的規定。故此她認為引起「宗主國政府」(Host government)或者「鄰國政府」 (neighbouring government)的不滿，其實不足以構成威脅國家安全的理由，否則高壓政府可以名正言順地禁止任何「睇唔順眼」的社團 (any repressive government could justify the banning of any society on the basis of its own intolerance)。

如按此思路，由一個專制政府引入國安法到現今非民主體制的香港，任何動用國安理由本質上都已違反《國際人權公約》的「莊嚴承諾」，更惶論那些是否「真正」影響國家安全的理由，抑是只是為了借「國安」之名打壓結社、言論自由與人權。

參考文本及檔案：

【註一】1992 FCO 40 3731 Hong Kong Bill of Rights: Societies Amendment Bill. The National Archives.

【註二】 Nihal Jayawickrama (2017). The Judicial Application of Human Rights Law National, Regional and International Jurisprudence. Cambridge University Press.

#人權底線去左邊
#ICCPR
#方丈睇你唔順眼
#國安無限大
#人權被出賣
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♦♦♦
The Real Threat to the US is the loss of self-confidence
──An Open Letter to Mr. Secretary Mike Pompeo

My name is Wang Ping-Chung, the spokesperson for the New Party, Taiwan’s political party. During the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19, the enemy of all human beings, including the American people and Chinese people, is definitely the corona virus. However, as Secretary of State of the United States, you seem to consider China instead of the virus to be your enemy. It lets you do little in pandemic prevention but much in blaming the WHO and China. You have even made great efforts to politicalize the issue of public health in order to attack China, which reflects the United States’ prevailing concept of so-called China’s threat. Nevertheless, the real threat to the US is not China but the loss of self-confidence indeed.

As President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Only thing we have to fear is the fear itself.” The threat you have to fear today is not other peoples but yourselves. Even though you have done your best to shift blames on the WHO and China, the fact is already clear of the US domestic misdiagnosed cases, which had been seen as H1N1 but in fact corona virus since last autumn. It is also your fault in underestimating the severity of the epidemic while China sacrificed itself to let the world have more preparation time. Accordingly, the Covid-19 has killed more than fifty thousand people in America. As China’s population is four times larger than the US, it is quite shocking that America’s death toll due to the Covid-19 has been above China’s.

I feel so sorry for the suffering of your people, yet it is never too late to mend. However, not only did you palm off the responsibility on others, but you also undermined international solidarity against the pandemic. Moreover, you even try to deny the status of the WHO as the coordinator for universal combat against diseases, which in some way means challenging the global institutions under the governance of the United Nations. It is so unbelievable that the United States, viewing itself as the world leader above half a century, is tending to destroy the world order recognized by the international society. The very reason I can think of is the loss of America’s self-confidence. It is the threat to both the US and the whole world.

For Liberalists in the United States, China has been believed either an opponent or a violator to international institutions. As far as it’s concerned, there had been debates whether to keep containing China economically and militarily or engaging it institutionally. Both were resulted from America’s confidence in its leadership. Consequently, the confidence gradually changed into arrogance, luring the United States into aggressions upon other countries as the global superpower without permission from the UN Security Council. It made America exhausted at last. Therefore, the United States has become an isolationist, and even a betrayer to the global institutions they established before. On the contrary, China seems more like a protector of the world order.

On the other hand, for Realists, the predominant thinkers in international politics, China has been seen as the primary rival to America. As they estimate there will be threat if any other regional hegemony occurs, the nation’s fear becomes beyond what its capability can hold. To some extent, this is the real crisis to your people. In fact, different from western nations developing themselves by oppressing and exploiting others, the Chinese people have risen out of poverty at the cost of blood, sweat, and tears of our own. I would like to remind you of Franklin Roosevelt’s self-evident words that nothing to fear but fear itself. The only threat you should conquer is the threat in your mind.

As Henry Kissinger has argued, relations between China and the United States need not – and should not – become a zero-sum game. He also suggested that China and America build a Pacific community with each other. Thinking in the same way, Chinese President Xi also claimed that the vast Pacific Ocean has enough space for the two large countries of China and the United States. Furthermore, I believe the world is large enough to embrace different political and social systems. As western liberalism in recent years has met difficulties in over-consumption and government failure, we should be more open-minded to the superiority of Chinese governance in some fields, especially the high efficiency in defeating the epidemic. The United States should also be more self-confident to have China rising under the global governance of international institutions, sharing with mutual benefits instead of destroying each other. Without doubt, only by doing so can the United States overcome the real threat and bring the world peace and prosperity, the real universal values for all mankind.