Former Hong Kong Democratic Party leader Martin Lee addressed a packed lecture hall in the Pyle Center Thursday.
In a speech entitled \Democracy Delayed,"" Lee explained the inability of Hong Kong to universal suffrage for its citizens under the rule of Communist China.
Lee began with historical background on the issue, mentioning the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which handed the region of Hong Kong over to China officially in 1997.
Democracy has been an issue in Hong Kong since 1985, when drafting began on the ""Basic Law,"" Hong Kong's constitution under China. Technically, Hong Kong is a limited democracy.
""On the surface it seems we do have democracy, but the ultimate decision is not made by the people,"" said UW-Madison graduate student Jason Wu.
A referendum was built into the Basic Law, intended to gauge the desire for democracy, but because its application requires the approval of China, Lee is doubtful it will ever be used.
""Beijing will keep saying 'no.' The Chinese government doesn't agree that Hong Kong people want democracy,"" Lee said.
Lee cited the Chinese government's power to interpret the Hong Kong constitution as a grave problem, pointing out how these interpretive powers threaten citizens' constitutional rights.
Using the metaphor of a ""tree of democracy,"" Lee said the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong ""were protected by a democratic tree in England,"" and now ""we need to grow our own tree of democracy in Hong Kong to protect those freedoms.""
But Beijing remains an imposing hurdle to the cultivation of this ""tree."" As recently as April 26, the Chinese government declared that there was no possibility of a direct election in 2007 when the next legislative term begins, and gave no timetable for allowing universal suffrage in Hong Kong.
Since Lee's expulsion from Hong Kong in 1989, he has been bringing international focus to this issue, earning criticism from countrymen who support the Chinese government. As his supporters say, his crusading is completely justified. ""People will only ask for outside attention when they can't get the attention they deserve within the country,"" said UW-Madison senior Dora Fung.
