Hong Kong, China debate legality of 'referendum'

writer: Min Lee

When Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing continued to deny democracy to this wealthy financial hub of 7 million people. Hong Kong's leader is chosen by an 800-member committee stacked with pro-China figures. Its 60-member legislature is half-elected, half-picked by interest groups. Democracy activists have argued for years that Hong Kong is ready to choose its own political leaders. In their latest campaign, five opposition legislators - one from each of the territory's five major electoral districts - resigned on Jan. 26, triggering a special election. Pro-democracy political parties plan to field candidates in the May 16 by-election, hoping to turn the territory-wide contest into an unofficial referendum on democratic reform.
Beijing has attacked the referendum campaign as a challenge to its authority and questioned its legality. The Chinese government said in a statement in January that Hong Kong's constitution, the Basic Law, does not authorize referendums. The special election is still just a special election regardless of how democracy activists spin its results, vice chairman Keith Yeung said, according to the report. "No matter how you might interpret the election results, that doesn't change the fact that they are by-elections," Yeung was quoted as saying. But a Chinese official on Wednesday reiterated that the referendum campaign was illegal. "The Chinese constitution and the Basic Law don't provide a system to launch referendums," Li Fei, deputy director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the Chinese legislature's standing committee, told reporters in Beijing. "The campaign violates the Basic Law in a fundamental way." Speaking to radio RTHK, the referendum push's main spokeswoman defended the campaign again Wednesday. "If what we are doing is illegal, the government would have arrested me already," said opposition legislator Audrey Eu, herself a lawyer by trade and a former chairwoman of the Hong Kong Bar Association. "There are some movements that aren't legally binding, but that doesn't mean they are illegal."

References:
Lee, M. (2010). Hong Kong, China debate legality of 'referendum'. Retrieved March 10, 2010. from Associated Press: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/10/hong-kong-china-debate-legality-039referendum039.html