From AP:
A Chinese official on Monday met with Hong Kong’s Democratic Party in Beijing’s first formal contact with the opposition party since this former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Founded in 1994, the Democratic Party is Hong Kong’s leading opposition party, but it has always been viewed with suspicion by Beijing because it’s harshly critical of China’s authoritarian rule. It’s also a fierce advocate of full democracy in this semiautonomous Chinese territory where the leader is chosen by an 800-member pro-Beijing committee and the 60-member legislature is half-elected, half chosen by interest groups.
The Democratic Party’s first chairman, veteran activist Martin Lee, has been branded a “Chinese traitor” and “running dog for colonialists” by Chinese officials and their allies for briefing foreign officials about Hong Kong’s democracy movement. Many of its legislators have been denied travel documents commonly issued to Hong Kongers that allow them to travel freely to the mainland.
