HK suffrage campaigner slams pro-Beijing critics

Hong Kong's leading campaigner for universal suffrage said on Monday the onslaught against him by pro-Beijing forces had all the attributes of the Cultural Revolution.

Martin Lee (李柱銘) has faced a barrage of criticism from media, legislators and protesters since he wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal two weeks ago calling for world leaders to press China over its human rights record in the run up to the Beijing Olympics.

"I thought the Cultural Revolution had gone, but it is appearing in Hong Kong of all places," Lee said. "You do not have to do anything wrong to be condemned."

ORCHESTRATED

Lee said the campaign against him had been carefully orchestrated by pro-Beijing forces to coincide with his return from a trip to the US.

He also said it was aimed at influencing upcoming elections in Hong Kong, seen as a barometer of the support for universal suffrage in the territory.

Top democrats rallied around Lee on Monday.

One protest organized by one of the city's high-profile activists, Legislator Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄), or "Long Hair," defended Lee and the territory's right to freedom of expression.

`BIG SWITCH'

Emily Lau (劉慧卿), a leading legislator, will hold another protest yesterday outside the offices of leading pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.

"We were disturbed by this resounding attack on Martin Lee," Lau said. "It is a big switch from the principle of freedom of expression, we cannot allow that to happen. What he said is nothing at all."

Hong Kong Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君) called the attack on Lee "shameful," a report said on Monday.

One editorial in a local newspaper called Lee a "crazy traitor," while leading pro-Beijing politician Tam Yiu-ching (譚耀宗) said he was advocating outside interference in China's internal affairs.

NOWHERE IN SIGHT

Lee was a member of the committee that drew up the Basic Law aimed at guiding the city's transfer from British to Chinese rule in 1997. The law insisted on universal suffrage without providing a timetable, a promise that shows no sign of being met.

In the run-up to next year's Olympics, China has come under intense scrutiny on its rights record, with some groups calling for a boycott.

Launched in 1966 by Mao Zedong (毛澤東), the Cultural Revolution was a decade-long purge of any capitalist influence in China.

Students and workers, who became his "Red Guards," were empowered to persecute millions across the country for perceived ideological impurity, with many fleeing to Hong Kong to escape persecution.