ARTICLE 45 CONCERN GROUP FORMS HONG KONG'S NEWEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 001072

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2031
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH HK
SUBJECT: ARTICLE 45 CONCERN GROUP FORMS HONG KONG'S NEWEST
POLITICAL PARTY

REF: HONG KONG 641

Classified By: E/P Section Chief Simon Schuchat; Reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: On March 19, Hong Kong's Article 45 Concern
Group plans to announce the formal inauguration of its new
political party, the "Civic Party," with Article 45
co-founder and Legislative Councilor Audrey Eu as the party's
first parliamentary leader. Two independent democrats in the
Legislative Council (Legco),Fernando Cheung and Mandy Tam,
already have joined the new party, bringing its total number
of Legco members to six. The party intends to defer
consideration of any possible merger with the Democratic
Party until after the 2008 Legco election. Article 45
Concern Group founding member and Legislative Councilor
Margaret Ng told the Consul General that the most important
task for the new party would be to build a popular base which
could be mobilized to influence government planning and
actions. Similarly, Article 45 Concern Group Legco member
Alan Leong said the new party would focus on issues affecting
the "well-being" of the Hong Kong people in practical terms.
End Summary.


2. (SBU) On March 15, the Hong Kong press reported that the
Article 45 Concern Group, an organization originally formed
in 2003 by a group of prominent Hong Kong lawyers and legal
academics as the "Article 23 Concern Group," would formally
establish the "Civic Party" on March 19. The press also
reported that Article 45 co-founder and Legislative Councilor
Audrey Eu would be elected "party leader," while City
University Professor Kuan Hsin-chi would be designated "party
chairman." Some of the media also reported that Fernando
Cheung, an independent democrat who represents the social
welfare functional constituency in the Legco and who recently
joined the Article 45 Concern Group, would be named Civic
Party Vice Chairman, while City University Professor Joseph
Cheng -- formerly an advisor to the Democratic Party -- would
become party secretary.

Six Legco Members
--------------


3. (C) On March 1, Professor Cheng told E/P Chief and poloff
that Legco members Cheung and Mandy Tam, who represents the
accounting functional constituency, already had joined the
new party, bringing its total number of Legco members to six.
He said the Article 45 Concern Group was approaching other
independent legislators to join the new party, but was unsure
if any more would join; Joseph Lee of the health services
functional constituency already had declined. Cheng said the
new Civic Party would have a structure similar to that of the
British Labor Party, with an executive committee of
approximately twenty people, of whom no more than one third
would be legislators. This, he said, would keep the party
more grounded in grass roots issues and less focused on
political campaigns. He also said there would be no
consideration of merger with the Democratic Party until after
the 2008 Legco election, because it was more important for
the party to address the overall aims of the democratic
movement rather than
become enmeshed in inter-party bickering among the democrats.
At the same time, Cheng believed that multiple parties
competing for the same pool of democratic votes would not
bring Hong Kong any closer to universal suffrage.

Building a Popular Base
--------------


4. (C) On March 13, Article 45 Concern Group founding member
and Legislative Councilor Margaret Ng told the Consul General
that the most important task for the new party would be to
build a popular base, which then could be mobilized to
influence government planning and actions. She said the
Government's freedom to act and to dispense rewards without
reference to the political parties currently rendered such a
strategy difficult. In Ng's view, the new party would
provide a means to work with and develop civil society to
take concerted political action, as in the case of the
controversial West Kowloon Cultural District proposal, which
the Government now has withdrawn. She said the party's six
Legco members were discussing how they would set positions
and take action as a party; she believed the upcoming debate
over the Government's budget would compel them to address
numerous issues.

Focus on Practical Issues
--------------


HONG KONG 00001072 002 OF 002



5. (C) On March 6, Article 45 Concern Group Legco member Alan
Leong told the Consul General that formation of the new party
had been delayed somewhat by the requirement under Hong Kong
law that political parties should be formed as "limited
companies," which he said was "quite ridiculous." The party,
which he jokingly said had "too many lawyers," already had
drafted its manifesto and articles of association. Leong
described Hong Kong society as a "three-legged stool" that
currently has only two legs in place, the government and the
business sector. The third leg, which should be the public,
was lacking, and the new Civic Party would attempt to fill
that gap. The key issues on which the new party would focus
would be those affecting the "well-being" of the Hong Kong
people in practical terms. For example, if the Article 45
Concern Group legislators discussed "rule of law" or
"protection of freedom" in the abstract, they would not enjoy
a very attentive response from the public. If, however, they
framed their discussion in more practical terms, such as
preventing abuse of police powers to tap telephones, then the
public would be more responsive. Leong said the current
problem of "governance" in Hong Kong was due to this
"disconnect" between the SAR Government and the people.


6. (C) Questioned on the new party's relationship with the
Democratic Party (ref),Leong said that as a matter of
"political reality," if the democrats wanted to engage the
Government effectively on the issue of universal suffrage,
then they would need to "stand together." On other issues,
such as tax, pollution, and regulation of electric power
companies, however, there was no need for the various
democrats to adopt common positions. "Followers of the
democratic cause" in Hong Kong were abundant, but many did
not find the Democratic Party attractive. During his own
Legco election campaign in 2004, Leong said many of his
constituents told him they would have abstained from voting
if the only pro-democracy candidate had been from the
Democratic Party. In other words, he said, the pro-democracy
pie was expanding, but part of that pie could not be taken by
the Democratic Party.

Cunningham