Hong Kong democrats visit China

A handful of die-hard pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong have crossed into mainland China for the first time since being barred for criticising Beijing after the Tiananmen Square crackdown of 1989.

The Chinese Government invited the city's entire 60-member Legislative Council as a goodwill gesture.

The move comes as Beijing-backed chief executive Donald Tsang prepares to unveil political reforms that have drawn criticism from some democrats.

"Now more than ever do we need mutual understanding," Mr Tsang said.

He describes the visit as the first step of a 1,000-mile journey.

The itinerary of the two-day trip to Guangdong province is heavy on sightseeing and light on official meetings.

The group's first stop is a subway station in Shenzhen.

Timothy Wong, a political analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says the trip is basically a public relations gambit.

"Beijing has its own agenda: to improve relations with the democratic camp, to lower pressures on the upcoming political reforms and win some public support," he said.

"Beijing wants to do something that, at least in the eyes of the Hong Kong people, is going to deal with the democratic camp more positively. It's a kind of PR strategy."

Eleven members of the democratic camp have had their home return permits revoked or have been unable to renew them for 16 years.

On the night of June 3-4, 1989, the Chinese leadership sent in troops to crush student-led pro-democracy protests centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The assault killed hundreds of people, possibly thousands.

China has stuck by its initial appraisal of the movement as a "counter-revolutionary rebellion".

The 25-member democratic camp, for its part, is playing it safe and putting on a good face.

Last week, its members decided not to raise as a group the thorny issues of greater democracy for the former British colony nor the desire of many members for an official reappraisal of the Tiananmen crackdown.

The democrats' strategy, analysts say, is also partly a PR game.

They want to come across as grateful and keep open the possibility of an invitation to Beijing some day.

- Reuters