Hong Kong: A Message for Beijing; Hong Kong's democrats are gearing up for a fight.

Byline: George Wehfritz and Alexandra A. Seno

The businessman delivered "a message from Beijing," says Albert (Taipan) Cheng, Hong Kong's undisputed king of talk radio. Early this year, he claims, a shadowy contact with close ties to Chinese authorities warned him to "tone down his antigovernment rhetoric" or suffer the consequences. A victim of a gangland-style chopper attack in 1998, Cheng knew the dangers, so in April he quit his wildly popular drive-time show "Teacup in a Storm." But he didn't stay quiet for long. Last week he unexpectedly announced his candidacy in next month's Legislative Council elections. "When certain people tried to eliminate me from the public arena, it drove me to run," says Cheng, adding, "I'm angry."

So, he believes, are Hong Kong's 6.6 million people. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, a shipping tycoon Beijing handpicked to run the territory after the British surrendered power in 1997, now has the full support of just one in five residents, according to a new survey by Hong Kong University. And judging by a string of massive pro-democracy demonstrations staged on Hong Kong's streets recently, many citizens are equally unhappy with China's Communist leaders for attempting to quash promised political reforms under the "one country, two systems" formula. Cheng and his democratic allies hope to make the Sept. 12 vote a referendum on the status quo--and, by doing so, grab a majority in the legislature.

It's a long shot, and the contest itself is largely symbolic for the simple reason that the Legislative Council has little real power. Only half of its 60 members are directly elected in five multiple-seat districts; the remainder represent functional constituencies like insurance, transport and agriculture--interest groups inclined to tip pro-government contenders. Under Hong Kong's Basic Law, lawmakers can't propose their own bills or remove the chief executive, however poorly he performs. But they can question senior administrators in open hearings and debate government policies--important checks on executive power. Besides Cheng, the list of pro-democracy candidates includes high-profile incumbents like Emily Lau and Martin Lee--veteran politicians China's state media have branded "unpatriotic"--and two prominent barristers who campaigned against proposed sedition laws that Tung's administration withdrew last year after half a million people took to the streets in ...