By Emily Lau

One of Hong Kong’s most outspoken and popular politicians, Emily Lau leads The Frontier party.

When the Olympic Games closed in Beijing on August 24, many people expressed delight with China’s 51 gold medals, compared to 36 for the United States and 23 for Russia. The spectacular ceremonies and state-of-the-art facilities won admirers too. But what happened to China’s dash for freedom?

Back in 2001 when China bid to host the Games, its representatives promised to improve human rights and enhance democracy. Instead of nudging China to honor its undertakings, the Olympics brought more repression.

Untold numbers of people were forced to move to make way for the games facilities. Anxious to prevent protests that might steal headlines from the glories of Chinese modernist architecture and athletic prowess, the authorities hounded dissidents with extra vigor.

Despite several parks designated as protest zones and more than 70 protest-applications to the Security Bureau, no protests were allowed. Two elderly ladies wishing to protest against forced evictions received one-year suspended sentences in re-education camps. The right to demonstrate became a farce.

After years of economic reforms, personal and economic freedoms have multiplied, but political freedoms remain severely constrained. By strenuously bidding for the Games and spending billions to make them successful, Beijing exposed its eagerness to join the international community as a respected and leading member.

So when Beijing violates its promises to improve human rights, the international community should deliver stiff reminders, not turn a blind eye. Being a respected member of the international community should mean abiding by a code of civilized nations, one based on respect for basic rights and dignity.

How distressing to hear the leaders of nations that claim to champion human rights and democracy heaping praise on the Games while saying little about rights! Such hypocrisy is infuriating.

Before the Games, Amnesty International bluntly warned that the Chinese authorities continued to persecute and punish those daring to speak for human rights -- locking them up, placing them under house arrest or forcibly removing them. Regrettably, few leaders of freedom-loving countries made similar remarks. Some politicians say it’s more useful to apply pressure in private. But without improvements on rights, behind-the-scenes overtures look futile.

For human rights to flourish, China needs a credible legal system, an independent judiciary and an end to government interference with lawyers. For years, valiant efforts by human-rights lawyers and legal-rights defenders have attracted international attention. In Hong Kong last year, I joined a number of lawyers and academics to form the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. We want such brave souls to know that many Hong Kong people admire their work, respect their courage and try to give help and support.

For a free and democratic China to emerge, a system of rule-of-law, underpinned by an independent judiciary and legal profession, is indispensable. Human-rights lawyers and defenders must be able to perform their invaluable roles.

Before and during the Olympics, some such lawyers and their relatives endured harassment or detention. Yet harsh treatment can’t deter them from wanting to help the weak and under-privileged. While saluting their courage, we also hope they’ll succeed to usher in the rule of law that China sorely needs.

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