Tue, Nov 15, 2005 page1

• Hong Kong's democrats call for `birdcage' protest

  RATTLING THE CAGE Democracy supporters in the territory are planning a large-scale demonstration for Dec. 4 to demand universal suffrage, dubbing it the Birdcage March

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  Hong Kong democracy supporters yesterday called for people across the territory to join a Dec. 4 "Birdcage March" to demand full democracy, raising the specter of a mammoth protest two years ago that rattled leaders in Beijing.

  The democratic camp is wrestling with the Hong Kong government over an electoral reform package that Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) says is a step toward universal suffrage but critics argue is no such thing.

  Despite widespread calls for democracy, the Communist leadership in Beijing has been unwilling to let Hong Kong people decide for themselves when this should come.

  The government's reform plan would double the size of the selection committee and add 10 seats to the Legislative Council, five of which would be directly elected.

  Tsang has argued that the plan is the best way to advance any democracy moves at all, and that rejecting it would strain relations with Beijing, but democrats have vowed to vote it down unless a timetable is set for universal suffrage.

  "Today, I think we are all here united saying that we expect a lot of people to turn out," Legislator Emily Lau (劉慧卿) said.

  The protest organizers declined to say how many people they expected to march, but Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人) said they hoped half a million would turn out.

  Protesters have been urged to wear black during the rally, which has been dubbed the Birdcage March in reference to supporters' complaints that the government has given them no room to negotiate.

  Roughly 500,000 people turned out on July 1, 2003, to protest against the government's handling of a raft of issues, including a sinking economy and attempts by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) to push through anti-subversion laws that opponents said would erode Hong Kong's basic freedoms.

  Lee said the current protest would send a more forceful message than the 2003 march.

  "This is a single-issue march. In the past they can blame it on Tung Chee-hwa. They have no one to blame it on this time. It's not the person in charge we want to change, it's the system," he said.

  The unpopular Tung stepped down earlier this year, citing health reasons, but political analysts say the leadership in Beijing removed him for his incompetence.

  Ma Ngok (馬嶽), assistant professor of social sciences at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said a 500,000 turnout was unlikely at the march, but even 100,000 would send a strong message.

  "It should still pose some kind of pressure to the government and also to some of the democrats as well," he said.

  The 25-member democratic camp in the legislature must stick together if they hope to block Tsang's electoral reforms from winning two-thirds support in a vote that could come later this year or early next year. Ma said a strong turnout at next month's rally could bring wavering democrats back to the fold.

  With uncertainty about a no-vote aftermath, Tsang has said democrats' hopes for eventual universal suffrage would be harmed unless they rallied behind him.

  Lau brushed his comments off as scaremongering.

  Beijing, too, would be watching, Ma said.

  "They care about it," he said, but added he did not think the leadership in China was prepared to meet one of the democrats' key demands: a timetable for universal suffrage.
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