HONG KONG POLICE FOIL 2008 PLOT TO KILL MARTIN LEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L HONG KONG 000986 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/CM; ALSO FOR DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL CH HK SUBJECT: HONG KONG POLICE FOIL 2008 PLOT TO KILL MARTIN LEE REF: HONG KONG 985 Classified By: Consul General Joe Donovan for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Post expected press interest in pan-democratic leader Martin Lee's May 30 meeting with CODEL Pelosi (reftel). However, questions to Lee that morning from waiting press focused more on a front-page South China Morning Post (SCMP) story reporting police having foiled a planned attempt on Lee's life during the 2008 Legislative Council elections. Lee reported one of the two conspirators as having been a Mainlander, but told the press he did not believe Beijing was involved. Although he believes the central government opposes his politics, he believes Beijing would not want to take such a step against him. Pro-Beijing legislator Wong Kwok-kin condemned both the plot and any suggestion Beijing might have played a role, calling for the police to lay out the full details of the case. In comments reported in the SCMP, and a subsequent conversation with the Consul General, Lee praised the handling of the investigation by the Hong Kong Police. The case will go to court in the near future Lee marched in the May 31 Tiananmen commemorative protest without protective security arrangements. ¶2. (C) In his meeting with CODEL Pelosi, however, Lee recalled a far more harrowing tale. At the time of the Tiananmen protests, which saw Lee and fellow activists like Szeto Wah withdrawing from the Basic Law Drafting Committee, Lee reported Beijing did target him. Lee said the then-Royal Hong Kong Police (RHKP) told him a "platoon of PLA soldiers" armed with military weapons were checked into a Hong Kong hotel. The RHKP told Lee his name headed these soldiers' "hit list". As a result, he was placed under RHKP protection until the case was resolved. Lee did not indicate what actions the colonial government took against the alleged perpetrators. DONOVAN