A PROMINENT Hong Kong dissident has made a politically-sensitive move to organise a public showing of the controversial BBC documentary on Mao Zedong this Sunday. The showing, arranged by Lau Shan-ching, follows signs TVB, which has purchased the film, had no intention airing it. China launched a fierce attack against the BBC after it showed the documentary entitled Chairman Mao, The Last Emperor last month. A former personal doctor of Mao was quoted in the documentary as saying many teenage girls had had sex with Mao because they believed that would be their ''special honour''. Mr Lau, imprisoned for 10 years in Guangdong cells for counter-revolutionary offences, said: ''People in Hong Kong should have the right to view the programme to see the hypocritical side of Mao after we've learned a lot about his brutal side.'' Mr Lau said the film would be shown at the headquarters of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) in Mongkok. ''The room has seats for about 100 people and everybody is welcome. We have told our friends about the screening. We won't charge anything and viewers don't even need to sign up in advance,'' he said. Mr Lau said he did not know whether the film should be first submitted to the territory's Censorship Authority before screening. ''But we won't consider submitting the film for censorship because we don't think it's necessary.'' However, a spokesman for Hong Kong Government's Recreation and Culture Branch said a film should be submitted to the Censorship Authority and get a certificate of approval before screening. The spokesman said under the Film Censorship Ordinance, the screening fell into the definition of public exhibition because it would be shown at the HKFS, which could be considered a place of public entertainment. However, Mr Lau said the film would still be screened even if the Government issued a warning. ''I think if the Government wants to stop us screening the programme, it will be interfering in freedom of the press,'' he said. Mr Lau said he did not believe the screening would affect relations between Hong Kong and China. ''There's nothing confidential in the programme, and I don't think the screening would 'hurt the feeling the Chinese people' as Beijing has warned,'' he said.
