Oliver Li Zhen wrote in his letter (South China Morning Post, June 5) that Lu Ping's remarks to foreign reporters constituted a 'positive promise' which he thought 'better than a political hoax'.
But for many Hong Kong people, what Mr Lu said was simply a political hoax.
How can we accept Mr Lu's hollow promise of democracy when, at the same time, China insists on ignoring the Democratic Party, and shuns such popular legislators as Martin Lee, Emily Lau, Christine Loh and Szeto Wah? How can the Hong Kong people trust China's sincerity in democracy when numerous Chinese dissidents are still suffering in jail? We have reason to worry that the fate of Wei Jingsheng and Wang Dan could be that of those Hong Kongers who stand up to Beijing after 1997.
Mr Li was right that 'words without action discredit a promise'. And action is exactly what Hong Kong people are looking for.
Mr Li doesn't know what kind of action China could take. So here are some examples: shelve the idea of the provisional legislature; accept the Democrats and start communicating with them; recognise the legal status of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China and its right to demonstrate; maintain editorial independence at RTHK; and allow freedom of speech and press, including unpopular opinions such as the advocation of Taiwanese independence.
Don't forget that the very principle of freedom of speech and press is to protect minority and unpopular views.
