Democratic push in Hong Kong

As the implications became clear, four former heads of the Hong Kong bar, the dean of the Hong Kong University law school, a US constitutional scholar, and two Hong Kong legislators agreed to write a set of replies. Each opinion was printed in a different color, and 200,000 were handed out on the streets.

The "rainbow pamphlets" were so popular that 200,000 more were printed, and by December, 60,000 Hong Kong residents marched in the streets, the largest protest here since 1989.

Given the outcry, the Group and a growing set of civic organizations thought officials might reconsider their drive to get the bill through the legislature. But if anything, during the winter and spring, and in the midst of the SARS crisis, its passage was sped up.

Rather than offer a "white" bill - a working text that allowed consultation - the government issued a final "blue" bill. A blue bill can be discussed in the legislature, but with little likelihood of change. The blue text was the first time anyone had seen the actual wording of Article 23. What's more, despite a two-foot stack of replies, many of which expressed deep reservations, the article appeared to be the same "nasty" bill, as one Group member put it, from the fall.

Government tactics added to frustrations. The official accounting of a government panel to determine who was "for" and "against" Article 23, for instance, labeled the Concerned Group as "undecided." "This was just stupid, and hurt the government in the eyes of the people," says Mr. Davis. "We were opposed to every paragraph of Article 23."

In late June, the Group organized an international legal conference in Hong Kong that brought in experts from around the world to discuss Article 23. On that same day, with the pro-democracy members gone, the Hong Kong legislature "read" the bill, and approved it - setting up a final vote for July 9.

"Even some uncontroversial trade bills can take two years to read in Hong Kong," says a diplomat here. "But the chief executive was committed to passing the bill by July 9. I think they now see that as a mistake."

"Something that remains in Hong Kong after the Brits is a deep regard for the rule of law," says James To of the Democratic Party. "People may not understand Article 23. But they look at the chief executive and his cronies, they look at the corruption in government - and then they look at the street where these respected lawyers are marching in the heat, and they trust the lawyers, not the unelected leaders. That's what's changed in the past few days."

The protests were not just about Article 23. They resulted from a variety of scandals, economic troubles, the SARS crisis, and a perception that Tung and the government are out of touch. In the past weeks, a number of moderate pro-Beijing legislators have started to give speeches on accountability and democracy, spurred by their constituencies. And Tung withdrew controversial elements of Article 23, though Group members say the changes are superficial.

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