Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HONGKONG1252
2006-03-24 09:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Hong Kong
Cable title:  

DRL OFFICER RANA SIU'S VISIT TO HONG KONG: CIVIL

Tags:  PGOV PREL HK CH PINR PHUM ELAB 
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PP RUEHCN
DE RUEHHK #1252/01 0830921
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 240921Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5721
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 001252 

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DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2031
TAGS: PGOV PREL HK CH PINR PHUM ELAB
SUBJECT: DRL OFFICER RANA SIU'S VISIT TO HONG KONG: CIVIL
SOCIETY DEVELOPMENTS (PART 2 OF 2)


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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 001252

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DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2031
TAGS: PGOV PREL HK CH PINR PHUM ELAB
SUBJECT: DRL OFFICER RANA SIU'S VISIT TO HONG KONG: CIVIL
SOCIETY DEVELOPMENTS (PART 2 OF 2)


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


1. (C) During a March 13-16 visit to Hong Kong, DRL Foreign
Affairs Officer Rana Siu discussed civil society and
political party developments with Hong Kong-based NGOs.
According to the National Democratic Institute (NDI),the
pro-Government parties have become more skittish about
participating in NDI programs. Civic Exchange, a local think
tank, believed local sensitivity over ties to NDI was related
to Hong Kong's election cycle. Anthony Cheung, Executive
Council member and Synergynet founder, said local pro-Beijing
groups were concerned about NDI because they sometimes
confused the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) -- which
has a controversial reputation in China and Hong Kong -- with
NDI. A University of Hong Kong pollster emphasized the
importance of improving the standards for conducting and
reporting on polls in Hong Kong. Separately, a Democratic
Party (DP) member explained that the party wanted to re-shape
its image in order to reconnect with disillusioned voters.
Siu also met with the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, the
Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, and the International
Republican Institute. This is the second of two cables
discussing Siu's meetings in Hong Kong.

NDI: "Politics is Extracurricular"
--------------


2. (C) On March 14, Christine Chung, National Democratic
Institute's (NDI) Director of China programs said that over
the past year, the two pro-Government parties, the Liberal
Party (LP) and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and
Progress of Hong Kong (DAB),had become more skittish about
participating in NDI programs. The local media had published
some articles critical of NDI and had caused some parties and
organizations to be reluctant about associating with the NGO.
While the Democratic Party (DP) was less concerned about

these accusations, they also had less time than before to
attend optional training sessions, explained Chung. The DP
recently required potential district council candidates to
attend a half-day, DP-sponsored, political theory and
campaign training workshop, held every other Saturday.
Regarding the development of political parties in Hong Kong,
Chung was critical, saying that for some elected officials,
"politics is extracurricular." With many politicians working
full time jobs, and participating in numerous government and
charity commissions, there was little time left for party
development.

Civic Exchange: Entering the Mainland
--------------


3. (C) On March 14, Christine Loh, Chief Executive Officer of
Civic Exchange, said local sensitivity over ties to NDI was
related to Hong Kong's election cycle. She noted that in the
run-up to the September 2004 legislative council elections,
NDI was criticized in pro-Beijing newspapers. In the post
election period, however, NDI was able to co-sponsor, along
with several pro-Beijing newspapers and organizations, a July
2005 Civic Exchange forum entitled "The New Chief Executive's
Platform." While some NGOs were concerned about the negative
publicity and hostility from the pro-Beijing media, Loh said
that as long as Civic Exchange was transparent about its
programs and associations, it had nothing to defend or worry
about. Questions over NDI's role in Hong Kong had nothing to
do with the quality of the NDI programs, Loh added.


4. (C) Hong Kong was a launch pad for civil society work on
the mainland, contended Loh. In partnership with Plowshares
Institute, a Connecticut-based NGO that addresses conflict
resolution issues, Civic Exchange has been promoting
"alternative democracy skills" in Nanjing. Civic Exchange
Researcher Yan Yan Yip explained that by holding half-day
workshops on conflict management using local case studies,
Civic Exchange hoped that mainland participants in the
workshops would be able to create a more respectful
relationship between people and authority. While it was
important to build democracy, it was not necessary to call it
by that label, said Loh. In her words it was also important
to "strengthen the pillars of democracy, not just elections."



5. (C) In order to better understand the term "democracy,"
Civic Exchange hopes to commission Hong Kong-based mainland
scholars to write about democracy, and particularly about
democracy within the Chinese Communist party. Separately,
Loh predicted that there would be a "revival" of the debate
over Asian values (as championed by former Singaporean Prime

HONG KONG 00001252 002 OF 003


Minister Lee Kuan Yew) versus the universal definition of
democracy. In preparation, Loh suggested asking scholars
from China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia
to write about the meaning of democracy, each from their own
cultural perspective.

Simon Lee: Democratic Party Needs Image Makeover
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Simon Lee, HSBC Global Markets Manager and DP member,
told Siu on March 14 that he had participated in NDI programs
because he was interested in politics. Lee found the "Young
Political Leaders Communications Training Program" to be
useful and inspirational in thinking about his own
participation in the Democratic Party. While some of the
other workshop participants criticized the lack of a more
localized agenda, Lee said he enjoyed learning about how
people communicated, campaigned, and so on in other political
systems and cultures. Lee did note that because the NDI
program was conducted in English (with Chinese translation
available),some party members were reluctant to participate
due to their poor English language proficiency. NDI should
continue to invite other political parties "for balance,"
suggested Lee. Overall, Lee was pleased with the NDI
workshops, saying it was one of the "only times that all of
the parties can get together and talk" informally.


7. (C) While Lee had no short-term plans to run for office,
he is involved in re-shaping the DP's public image. When
asked if the reforms were meant to distinguish the DP from
the newly formed Civic Party, Lee responded that he hoped the
image makeover would narrow the gap between the DP and the
Civic Party and help the party to reconnect with voters.
Acknowledging the DP's low approval ratings, Lee said that he
wanted to help the party use its members' time and energy
more effectively. Another goal of the image makeover was to
re-shape the perception of the DP as a one-issue party and to
get the message out that the party also had strong economic
policies.

Synergynet: Anthony Cheung
--------------


8. (C) Anthony Cheung, Executive Council member and
Synergynet founder, stated on March 15 that local pro-Beijing
groups were concerned about contacts with the NDI because
they sometimes confused it with the National Endowment for
Democracy (NED),which has a controversial reputation in
China and Hong Kong. However, Cheung said that as long as
NDI's work was transparent, there would not be a problem.
Cheung said he had advised NDI to open its workshops to all
political parties to avoid being perceived as partisan.


9. (C) The July 1, 2003 demonstration was a real turning
point for many young people, said Cheung, and has motivated
many to local activism. While some young Hong Kongers were
still cynical and distrusted the political establishment,
they were now more willing to develop new civil society
groups as an alternative to politics. Cheung said he
recently started an informal civil society dinner with
several other NGOs and organizations, including the
Roundtable (also known as the Hong Kong Avant-garde Policy
Research Institute and the 30s Group, two groups for young
professionals interested in community issues. Cheung said
there were tentative plans to create a website as a
clearinghouse for information on civil society.


10. (C) Cheung also discussed his role as an Executive
Council (Exco) member. While some democrats questioned
whether he had compromised his democratic values by joining
the Exco, Cheung saw his participation in the Exco as a
positive development. By appointing a democrat, the
Government had proven itself to be inclusive rather than
exclusive. Moreover, he believed Chief Executive Donald
Tsang must have had Beijing's tacit approval to include a

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democrat in the Exco. When asked why he thought he was
"acceptable" to Beijing, Cheung responded that he was one of
the few people to have maintained links with Beijing both
before and after the handover. Separately, Cheung exhorted
Hong Kong to not react defensively about its relationship
with China. "Hong Kong must have enough confidence that it
won't be absorbed by the mainland," because the city had its
own core values and institutional strengths.

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor: Cyd Ho
--------------


HONG KONG 00001252 003 OF 003



11. (C) On March 15, Cyd Ho, Chairperson of the Hong Kong
Human Rights Monitor said that two of her colleagues, though
not affiliated with any political party, had participated in
NDI's District Council Candidate Campaign School in February

2006. Both were pleased with the training. Ho had learned
from her colleagues that Tony Liu Kit-ming, Chairman of the
Local Inspectors' Association (a local police union) had also
attended the workshop. She expressed concern that the
participation of an active-duty policeman at a campaign
training workshop might be a possible conflict of interest.
Ho brought Liu's participation to the attention of a "South
China Morning Post" (SCMP) journalist. A March 7 article in
the SCMP pointed out that under civil service rules, officers
serving in the government could not participate in elections.
However, Liu told the SCMP that he was encouraging police
colleagues on the verge of retirement, not active-duty
officers, to consider running in next year's district council
elections. Ho added that she had raised concerns about this
issue to Emily Lau, legislator and Convenor of The Frontier.
According to Ho, Lau agreed that there might be a possible
conflict of interest issue and promised to raise the issue in
the legislature.

Robert Chung: Polling Standards Need to be Improved
-------------- --------------


12. (C) On March 15, Robert Chung, Program Director of the
Public Opinion Program (POP) at the University of Hong Kong,
explained that all of Hong Kong's political parties had
internal polling units. However, because many of the polls
released by the parties did not include information about
their survey methodology, he could not assess the quality of
their survey conclusions. According to Chung, local
journalists were not serious or professional about polls and
that "it pays for them to release substandard polls."
Journalists were often under pressure by editors to report
stories and were less interested in checking the validity of
the polls, lamented Chung. He noted that NDI had sponsored a
two-hour workshop, entitled "20 Questions a Journalist Should
Ask About Poll Results." The workshop emphasized the
importance of professional standards for conducting and
reporting on polls. While he had observed that the
pro-Beijing political parties had become more skeptical of
affiliating with NDI, especially around election time, the
POP program was happy to continue to work on future projects
together with NDI.


13. (C) Chung said that since 1991, the media, government and
political parties were forbidden by election guidelines to
reveal exit poll results before the close of polling stations
at 10:30 pm and added that violators faced possible censure.
However, during the last Legco election, it was clear that
the DAB ran their own exit polls and had a more accurate
picture of election results than the other parties. The DP
acknowledged that they had not run their own exit polls,
leading to some disappointing results among democratic
candidates. Former DP Chairman Martin Lee's last minute call
for votes ultimately led to independent democrat Cyd Ho's
loss in the Hong Kong Island geographic constituency.
According to Chung, the DP said that from a principled
standpoint, they had not run their own exit polls to avoid
"election engineering." However, the political parties are
currently considering whether or not to imitate the DAB in
running polls during the next election. Previously, Chung
said that the POP had conducted exit polls, but only released
the results after 10:30 pm. Chung is currently considering
publishing this data throughout the election day so that all
political parties would have access to this data. Chung has
not worked out the details with the HKG or even thought about
funding, but he is considering approaching NDI as a possible
sponsor for this project.


14. (C) On March 14, Siu had an unaccompanied meeting with
Amy Gadsden, International Republican Institute's Resident
Country Director for China. On March 16, Dr. Peter Pun, Vice
Chairman of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute (HKPRI)
provided Siu with an overview of the institute's mission,
programs, and funding sources. Pun explained that Paul Yip,
HKPRI Chairman provided the "seed money" for the
establishment of the Roundtable.


15. (U) DRL Foreign Affairs Officer Siu cleared this message.
Cunningham