In my meetings in California in the past three weeks, the 1998 Legislative Council elections dominated the discussions. This will most likely continue when I meet with people in Oregon this week.
It is not surprising because most Americans recognise the significance of having even a partially democratically elected legislature.
The question of the splintering of the pro-democracy movement was also raised. Some said such fragmentation would make it even more difficult for pro-democracy candidates to win seats.
One proponent of this view is Professor Richard Baum of the University of California at Los Angeles. We were speakers at a lunch meeting hosted by the Pacific Council for International Policy on September 16.
Professor Baum was in Hong Kong earlier this year and had a highly publicised run-in with provisional legislator David Chu. He told the Pacific Council there was a democratic alliance which won many seats in Legco elections in 1991 and 1995. However, there is division within the alliance.
I reminded Professor Baum that although I am a member of the pro-democracy movement, I have never been a member of the Democratic Party and there was no such thing as a democratic alliance which fielded candidates for elections.
In fact, in the 1991 Legco election, I defeated two members of the United Democrats - Wong Hong-chung and Lau Kong-wah. In 1995, no Democrats ran in my New Territories East constituency.