Joseph Y. S. Cheng
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mind, and that further consultation would be no more than window-dressing. Despite modest efforts, the mass media found it difficult to generate any interest in discussing the draft.
When the Mainland members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee visited Hong Kong in April 1989, representatives of the democracy movement boycotted the consultative session scheduled for them. They simply read a statement criticizing the committee and the lack of consultation, and left. Significantly, representatives of Meeting Point did not join the boycott. As the Chinese government's handling of the student demonstrations was severely criticized by the community after the imposition of martial law on 19 May the second delegation of Mainland members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee had to cancel its visit. The chairman of the committee, Ji Pengfei, had to follow suit.
The visit of the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in April 1989, on the other hand, attracted some attention among the elites. This time it was Meeting Point which refused to meet the delegation. The community was mainly interested in discussing the Vietnamese refugee issue and the right of abode in the United Kingdom for Hong Kong people, though the Foreign Affairs Committee delegation was more concerned with the draft Basic Law and the development of representative government in the territory. The visit reinforced the community's cynicism that one could not expect much from the United Kingdom. Members of the delegation failed to present themselves as good listeners; apparently they had already made up their mind that the right of abode in the United Kingdom could only be granted to selected small groups. Hong Kong people were also deeply disappointed with the lack of commitment from London in helping to solve the Vietnamese refugee problem.
The student demonstrations and the tragic power struggles in China have provided a major boost for the morale of the local democracy movement, which obviously reached a low point in early 1989. Suddenly the arguments for democracy appear irrefutable, and the community agrees that freedom and human rights can only be guaranteed by a system of representative government. After the imposition of martial law in parts of Beijing, the movement established the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China. The alliance was able to organize three rallies on three consecutive Sundays with over one million participants each time. This was certainly the kind of people's power that the movement had longed for. Members of the Legislative and Executive Councils also reached a consensus that all seats of the Hong Kong SAR legislature should be directly elected by 2003, and that the Chief Executive should also be directly elected by universal franchise in the same year. Nevertheless, the business and professional group of members of the Basic Law Consultative Committee has continued to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
As the power struggles in China have totally discredited the communist regime, the 'united front' work of the pro-Beijing organizations will be severely handicapped for some time in the foreseeable future. In fact, many leaders of such organizations came out to condemn the suppression of the student demonstrations, which means that a major reshuffle of the organizations will be necessary once the political turmoil in China calms.
The main challenge to the democracy movement at this stage will be to channel the energy of the awakened people to constructive work. Obviously mass rallies cannot be organized every Sunday. The movement should as soon as possible launch a political party which will offer a constructive programme based on the new consensus in