The Last Word: Alex Leong; Hong Kong's Quixote.(Interview)

Byline: Melinda Liu

Hong Kong has an election coming up for its next Chief Executive on March 25. The choice won't go to the people, however; the only voters will be 800 bureaucrats and functionaries vetted by Beijing. Yet defying all odds, Alan Leong Kam-kit has managed to get on the ballot as a pro-democracy candidate. Not only that: if he somehow manages to defeat the incumbent Donald Tsang, Leong vows to bring universal suffrage to Hong Kong residents within five years. During a telephone interview last week, Leong talked with NEWSWEEK's Melinda Liu about his quixotic race and whether Beijing should trust Hong Kong's residents with free elections. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Why are you running?

LEONG: On the last two occasions when the Chief Executive was determined, there was no debate. There was no way the public could be involved. The best way to expose the unfairness of the current system is to really participate in it and highlight what is so unreasonable about it. We [also] hope to give Hong Kong people a reason once again to be interested in local politics.

Do you think you can win?

No. Not because I'm not serious, but because of the way [the system] is set up. [But] we certainly have achieved [what many consider] a miracle by having secured more than 100 nomination votes to qualify me to be a formal candidate.

What can you hope to achieve?