A popular politician leading a pro-democracy march in Hong Kong this Saturday yesterday denied that her actions amounted to a challenge to the territory's Beijing-appointed leader.
However Anson Chan (陳方安生), 66, who stepped out of retirement to spearhead the protest march, said she wanted Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
Chan, known as the "Iron Lady" during her time as chief secretary, has been giving daily briefings and radio addresses appealing to people to join the July 1 demonstration.
The march is timed to coincide with the ninth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in 1997.
Tsang inactive
In an interview on government-run radio yesterday, Chan said she felt she had to step forward and press the case for democracy because Tsang was not doing enough.
"There is no doubt in my own mind that we will not move forward towards the ultimate goal of universal suffrage without the active participation and indeed courageous leadership from the chief executive," she said.
"I am participating in the march not in any way to confront Donald. It's nothing personal. I am simply just looking at the issue," she continued. "I feel that [a strong turnout] on July 1 will send a clearer message to the chief executive that he needs to do something to move democratic reform forward."
As many as 500,000 people have taken part in previous July 1 pro-democracy marches. The huge 2003 and 2004 turnouts were seen as key factors in the downfall of Tsang's unpopular predecessor Tung Chee-hwa (
Tension defused
Only around 20,000 people took part in last year's march, however, and Tsang's popularity combined with a recovering economy appear to have defused much of the political tension in Hong Kong.
Chan was chief secretary under Tung for four years and respected for working hard hard behind the scenes to safeguard human rights and political freedoms.
Despite being the city's most popular politician, she retired in 2001 after being publicly reprimanded by a leading Beijing official and ordered to give unpopular Tung more support.
Chan refuses to say if she will stand against Tsang in the election for chief executive scheduled for 2007. The final decision for the post will be taken by an 800-member, election committee that is predominantly pro-Beijing.
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