In Hong Kong, mirage of democracy still out of reach

HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters) Looking back over the 10 years since Britain returned Hong Kong to China, some may say the former colonial crown jewel has become even more radiant.

Veteran democracy crusader Martin Lee thinks the people have been duped and the political system hijacked.

''The big promise, of course, was 'one country, two systems, Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy'.

This promise was made by Deng Xiaoping, the paramount leader,'' said the lawmaker, referring to the late Chinese leader who in the early 1980s engineered the territory's return.

But regrettably, Lee said, ''Beijing has decided to adopt a hands-on policy ... It's now 'one country, one system, Beijing people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of control'.'' This cosmopolitan city has all the accoutrements of a liberal society - a free press, a laissez-faire economy, rule of law and an educated populace with high per capita income. It even has a founding legal charter, the Basic Law, that lays out universal suffrage as the goal.

Under the current arrangement, the Chief Executive is picked by a panel of 800 people stacked in Beijing's favour.

Half of the 60-seat legislature is elected by popular vote, and half selected by ''functional constituencies'', or business groups.

Full democracy remains elusive. Critics say that is because Beijing has increased, rather than decreased, its hand in the mix since the handover.

''Any progress has been minimal because the central government in Beijing doesn't want to see Hong Kong become a kind of a Western political base for subverting the mainland system,'' said Sonny Lo of the University of Waterloo in Canada, formerly a political analyst and pollster in Hong Kong.

The city's influential business elite, too, are a force against change, sending what some say is the wrong message to Beijing.

WATERSHED A turning point of the past decade came on July 1, 2003, when anger over a controversial anti-subversion draft law and a raft of other issues, including a weak economy and the SARS epidemic - overseen by deeply unpopular then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa - boiled over into a protest that drew more than half a million people onto the streets.

It was a wake-up call for Beijing, which started paying more attention to the territory and took a more active role in shaping its political development. Within a year, China's leaders ruled out direct elections in the near future.

The 2003 march gave the lie to the belief that ever-practical Hong Kongers were too busy making money to care about politics.

''The reality is that any time the government steps on the tiger's tail, the tiger turns around and bites them thoroughly,'' said Hong Kong Baptist University's Michael Degolyer, who has carried out extensive public opinion surveys in the territory.

MORE REUTERS SZ KP1205