HONG KONG - NEW DAWN
‘Timid’ teacher HONG KONG -- Edna Lee considers herself a timid person, and the 42-year-old primary school teacher never thought she would take part in a street protest.
steels up to rally
for democracy
‘I want the right to vote -- we
By Susan Kreifels
must voice ourselves’
Star-BulletinBut despite warnings from her family, who took refuge in Hong Kong from Chinese Communists a generation ago, she showed up in the infant hours of Chinese rule here to rally for democracy.
"I want the right to vote," said Lee, who is happy about Hong Kong's hand-over.
"More and more people realize the importance of democracy and we must voice ourselves. I tell my pupils to make the right judgment. If I don't do something I can't face them."
Handling protest and criticism is one of the greatest challenges facing control-obsessed Beijing. China passed Day One with flying colors. Human rights monitors said police acted with restraint, as did protesters.
Speeches by Chinese leaders stressed they would respect Hong Kong's civil rights and autonomy. But how China behaves after the lights of the international press dim is still in question.
Hong-Kong based Dinah PoKempner, deputy general counsel for Human Rights Watch/Asia, said although police respected protesters' rights after China regained sovereignty, there were troubling signs: Police played Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to drown out "Down with Li Peng" chants about the Chinese leader. Police also heavily videotaped the chanters.
"I don't know about the future," PoKempner said. "Police were on their best behavior with 8,000 restless journalists."
On the surface, the unspoken majority seems to far outnumber the outspoken minority. Most Hong Kong residents interviewed said they cared more about the economy and getting along with Beijing than civil rights and protesting in the streets.
Western media, accused of focusing too much on human rights and painting Red China black, relies on outspoken, ousted legislators such as Emily Lau and Martin Lee. Democratically elected, their terms were cut short when Beijing didn't approve of the election rules and replaced them with a handpicked body.
But away from the spotlights, in cramped offices in industrial areas like Electric Street and Oil Street, groups like the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor speak out as well.
"There are individuals who will go to prison if necessary to preserve their rights," said the group's chairman, Paul Harris.
His nongovernmental organization and others list these concerns:
After the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy students, Hong Kong's Bill of Rights was amended so that groups did not have to obtain government permission to hold a rally, only give notice.
But Hong Kong's new provisional legislature has voted to again require permission, and now non-governmental organizations must be licensed as well.
He wants to add secession and subversion to the list and not require violence or intent of violence to be guilty of such offenses.
What role nearly 5,000 Chinese troops now based here will have is also uncertain, as well as how much Hong Kong groups will push the laws.
Great Britain allowed a taste of democracy in the last election two years ago.
But Martin Lee believes "the flame of democracy is now ignited and I don't think can be snuffed out by a totalitarian government."
Edna Lee said the flame has definitely lit her soul.
Although relatives have left Hong Kong with foreign passports, she's determined to stay.
"I want to do something here," she said. "It's time for me to make judgments. A year from now I hope we can speak freely."
China blows big bucks
By Susan Kreifels
on its takeover fireworks
Star-Bulletin
HONG KONG -- If bigger means better, then China won the battle of the bang that led up to the historic hand-over. In what the local media called a contest of national pride, the Chinese spent 25 times more on their fireworks display July 1 than the cost of the British send-off the night before.
China had the advantage of clearer skies, and the firepower was definitely mightier. The explosions of the fireworks boomed off the city's skyscrapers. But spectators disagreed on who put on the best show.
"This one was definitely bigger and better," said Christina Yu-Kimm Teoh, 15, after the Chinese display.
Not so, said U.S. tourist Tony Hartman, 40. "It was all firepower, no finale, and no plan. The British were more creative and had more variety."
Tens of thousands stood along Victoria Harbor, some for a second time, to watch the Chinese extravaganza, which started a half-hour late.
While the British display was 20 minutes of fireworks, the Chinese went for an hour, starting with a parade of brightly lighted boat floats. A huge lantern, the "pearl of the Orient" floated in the middle of the harbor.
The Chinese spent $100 million Hong Kong dollars compared to the $3.9 million spent by ING Barings for the British farewell.
"I'm tired of people comparing the budgets," Mark Lancaster, director of the British firm Kimbolton Fireworks, told the South China Morning Post. "It's not the money but the artistic element that matters."
Perhaps symbolic of Hong Kong's determination for a smooth turnover, one city resident said it was a tie.
"There was not much difference," said a diplomatic Kelvin Choi, a Hong Kong resident. "They were both beautiful."
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