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SCMP Reporter

For many of the assistants behind Operation Yellow Bird - the dissident escape route from China - the crucial question is not whether they will leave Hong Kong for safer shores, but when.

 Faced with uncertainties over their own safety after Hong Kong's return to China on July 1, a handful of activists say they have no choice but to become the territory's first political dissidents in exile.

 This core group of activists will be joining about 120 mainland students and scholars they have helped lead a virtual life of exile. Some will leave here with the hope of returning one day.

 A member of the operation, Dan (not his real name), acknowledged they were 'biting the tail of the tiger'.

 'Just like the activities of smuggling syndicates, what we have been doing is plainly against the law in Hong Kong and China.'  The operation's name, Yellow Bird, comes from a Chinese idiom that says while a praying mantis preys on a cicada, a yellow bird waits behind.

 The group formed in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square killings on June 4, 1989, when student leaders, scholars and workers involved with the pro-democracy movement were fleeing for safety.

 Some were placed on a wanted list. Others lived under threat of persecution.

 Then an 'underground' route opened, leading them to Hong Kong - stepping stone to the West. Aided by people they had never met before, the escapees were whisked to safety in specially hired vehicles. It was not until they found themselves on planes heading for the West that they realised how well organised the operation was. Among those who used the 'expressway' to flee were prominent dissidents Liu Gang, Wuer Kaixi, Li Lu, Yan Jiaqi, Su Shaozhi and Chen Yizi.

 Yellow Bird also played a part in the famous escape of Chai Ling in 1990 and veteran Wang Xizhe last October.

 The operation's activities have cost more than $16 million, most of which has gone to triad agents who played an integral role.

 Members of the rescue team - some of whom travelled to Beijing in May 1989 to provide humanitarian aid to protesters at Tiananmen Square - never thought their actions would have repercussions.

 But for the eight years since the crackdown, they have had to lead double lives, working behind the scenes to help smuggle dissidents out of China.

 Another member, Sam (also not his real name), said: 'I was saddened by the way a man's pride could be ruined when I witnessed how a reputable Chinese scholar shivered as he first stepped on to Hong Kong soil.'  At the height of the rescue in 1989 and 1990, there were more than 100 rescue operations.

 Police have advised Sam, a veteran activist, to stay away from dock and container-unloading areas, fearing he will be forcibly taken to the mainland for trial.

 Yellow Bird members have been particularly vigilant about reducing the risk of being caught. They have limited their use of phones, for instance, and have kept a constant check for bugging devices.

 Despite their caution, a few years ago friends of Dan and Sam were detained briefly and interrogated in China about the operation. In addition, one of Dan's friends was shown a picture of him and asked to identify him.

 'Obviously they [the Chinese authorities] are warning us to stop our activities and letting us know we have already been identified.'  Yellow Bird suffered a severe blow in late 1989 when it failed to rescue leading dissidents Chen Ziming and Wang Juntao, who were sentenced to 13 years in jail. Three people who assisted in the botched operation were also arrested and jailed.

 Two core organisers fled in 1989 in the face of mounting pressure.

 'Sometimes I am bewildered by what I have been doing,' said Sam. 'Though I am an ordinary Hong Kong citizen, I seem to be on the wrong side of the track.'  A few colleagues did not understand why he was alienating a strong and thriving China - a question he asked himself.

 The group suffered another major setback when a key agent decided to make amends with China by fronting up at the State Security Bureau in Beijing, China's secret-police unit.

 Despite the setbacks, Dan says he seldom thinks of quitting. 'Once work has started, it is pointless to hand it over to someone else because that means another person will be put on the [subversion] blacklist,' he said. 'That's the reason [Beijing] deeply hates us. We have not shown any sign of repentance over the years.'  Sam added: 'Someone has to do the job. How can we ignore the cries for help?'  With Yellow Bird now an open secret, Beijing officials have moved to put pressure on the administration through diplomatic channels.

 'In China's point of view, these dissidents are plainly wanted criminals,' said Professor Lau Siu-kai, a Preparatory Committee member. He added that to avoid trouble, members of the Operation should leave the territory before the handover.

 Cheung Man-kwong, a leader of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, said: 'Compared with the tremendous work they have done and the risk they have taken, my help amounts to nothing.' It is the members of the operation who are the most vulnerable, he said. 'Surely it is not Szeto Wah, Martin Lee Chu-ming, Lau Chin-shek or Cheung Man-kwong whose safety is at stake.

 'People in the overseas dissident community can criticise Szeto Wah or Cheung Man-kwong, but dare not say a word against them [members of the Operation].

 'It is unimaginable that people would risk their lives by reaching out to total strangers. That was triggered simply by their fury over the killings [on June 4],' he said.

 Mr Cheung vowed to ensure the identities of the operation are never revealed, even if it means using the influence of the Democratic Party or his own powers as a legislator.

 'They have had to endure enough hardship and sacrifice . . . They deserve my deepest respect.

 'At the end of the day their efforts will win applause from all corners of the world.'  Mr Cheung believes that in 10 years the June 4 killings will be vindicated.

 Not surprisingly, group members have had difficulty deciding whether to seek freedom in an alien land or take risks by staying put.

 'To me both alternatives imply an equally unknown future,' said Dan. 'Nobody knows what kind of treatment we will face. Smuggling charges? Deportation to China? Political trial for subversion or spying? Anything is possible.

 'But it is hard for us - helpers and dissidents - to cope with the idea of becoming exiles ourselves . . . I don't want to be an asylum-seeker because I would be stuck with that for the rest of my life.'  Sam added: 'The worst thing for me is not simply detention, but torture and outrageous interrogation over our knowledge of secrets.' 



Yellow Birders take flight