Hong Kong, China debate legality of 'referendum'

			Hong, Kong, China, democracy, referendum

Hong Kong's top lawyers and Chinese officials are trading blows over the legality of a new campaign for democracy in the former British colony that frames an upcoming special election as a de facto referendum on political reform.

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.

Beijing has said Hong Kong will be able to elect its own leader by 2017 although it has not promised reform by that date.

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.

But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the leadership of the Hong Kong Bar Association said they didn't see anything unlawful about the concept of a de facto referendum. While Hong Kong is now Chinese territory, it continues to retain British-influenced laws and courts. Its lawyers receive British-style legal training and are often educated at British schools.

Hong Kong Bar Association Chairman Russell Coleman noted it isn't illegal to resign from the legislature, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday.

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."

Associated Press