Civil Liberties at Stake in Hong Kong, Lee Says

As Hong Kong braces for an uncertain future when it comes under Chinese control in three months, one of the territory's most vocal critics of China is traveling throughout North America to drum up support and awareness.

Yesterday, Chair of the Hong Kong Democratic Party Martin Lee made a stop at Harvard.

Standing behind the bench in the Ames Courtroom at Harvard Law School, Lee raised questions about the future of the rule of law in Hong Kong once Britain relinquishes control over the territory on July 1, 1997.

Lee stressed three elements of Hong Kong's rule of law that will be most affected by the transition this summer--namely, protection of human rights, freedom of the press and freedom to oppose the government.

"Laws must be good laws for the protection of human rights, not bad laws which infringe them," Lee said.

Lee criticized the notion that human rights is a Western idea and therefore should not be introduced to Asian societies.

According to that argument, he said, Asian societies cultivate their own definition of human rights. In China, for example, only some of the most basic rights are guaranteed, Lee said.

"Is the right to live and be fed human rights or animal rights?" he asked the audience.

Emphasizing the universality of human rights, Lee said that Europeans, Americans and Chinese all experience the same pain of a broken arm or a bullet in the head.

"Some people want to believe that [a Chinese political prisoner] will say, 'The government has jailed me without charges and without prospect of a trial, but I'm Asian so I'm happy,'" Lee said.

The freedom of the press is crucial, Lee added, because those in power would not dare interfere with human rights, were it possible for the truth to get out.

He claimed that there is already a lot of self-censorship, labeling it "bending for the wind before the wind arrives."

For writing an article in a Hong Kong newspaper about the absence of a free press in China, Chinese dissident Wan Dan was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in prison, Lee told the crowd.

Lee described this story to highlight the need for tolerance of opposition parties.

At the beginning of the talk, Lee joked about the possible transition from being a member of the Hong Kong Bar Association to being behind bars in China's regime.

Lee, 58, serves as a member of Hong Kong's elected Legislative Council--the territory's primary legislative body--and is a prominent critic of China's recent hard-line policies that breech agreements in the Joint Declaration of 1984. That document, signed by Great Britain and China, outlines the "one country, two systems" form of government which the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping envisioned for the territory.

That vision would ensure most of Hong Kong's autonomy, as well as the continuing survival of the market economy there.

Despite Beijing's denouncement of his disloyalty to the Chinese people, Lee maintained that he is an optimist and a friend of China.

"I am merely trying to make sure China upholds its end of the Joint Declaration," Lee said. "It can work."

Lee spoke to a crowd of 100 yesterday at the invitation of the Harvard Asia Law Society on one of his many fund-raising stops in North America and Europe.

His very presence in the United States caused friction with Beijing. Before leaving on his multinational tour for support, Lee met with China's hand-picked chief executive Tung Che-Hwa and received a reprimand for traveling abroad and soliciting foreign money for the Hong Kong Democratic Party

That vision would ensure most of Hong Kong's autonomy, as well as the continuing survival of the market economy there.

Despite Beijing's denouncement of his disloyalty to the Chinese people, Lee maintained that he is an optimist and a friend of China.

"I am merely trying to make sure China upholds its end of the Joint Declaration," Lee said. "It can work."

Lee spoke to a crowd of 100 yesterday at the invitation of the Harvard Asia Law Society on one of his many fund-raising stops in North America and Europe.

His very presence in the United States caused friction with Beijing. Before leaving on his multinational tour for support, Lee met with China's hand-picked chief executive Tung Che-Hwa and received a reprimand for traveling abroad and soliciting foreign money for the Hong Kong Democratic Party