Ma Lik

Ma Lik, GBS, JP (Template:Zh-t; 23 February 1952 – 8 August 2007), was a Legislative Councillor, and was the Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), a pro-Beijing political party in Hong Kong.

Education

Ma Lik attended the Pui Kiu Middle School. He graduated with a bachelor's degree (with Honours) from the Department of Chinese from United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Early years

He was born in Guangzhou<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and is of Xiamen, Fujian ancestry.<ref>Ma Lik DABHKTemplate:Dead link</ref> was a teacher in the Pui Kiu Middle School, a pro-Chinese secondary school in Hong Kong. He was a deputy publisher of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily and a local Deputy to the National People's Congress.<ref name=legco>Ma Lik, Legco Template:Webarchive, Retrieved 18 May 2007</ref>

Career

Ma was formerly the Secretary General of the DAB, and became the Chairman of the DAB in December 2003 when Jasper Tsang resigned following the poor performance of the party in the November 2003 District Council elections;<ref name=row>Cannix Yau, "Ma pledges to win back trust in DAB" Template:Webarchive, The Standard, 10 December 2003</ref> in those elections, the pro-democratic camp won 150 seats, while DAB secured only 62 seats out of the 205 DAB candidates fielded.<ref>Eddie Luk, "Public speak out with votes" Template:Webarchive, The Standard, 27 November 2003</ref> Ma was re-elected leader on 25 April 2007.<ref name=rthk>Ma Lik reappointed as DAB chairman, Radio Television Hong Kong, Retrieved 18 May 2007</ref>

Ma served in the Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee, Hong Kong Cheshire Home Foundation, and Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education. He was formerly the Chief Editor of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Deputy Secretary General of the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee, Director of Treasure Land International Property Consultants, General Manager of The Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, and member of the Selection Committee for the First Government of HKSAR.<ref name=legco/>

Ma was active in the political circles in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Ma wrote weekly and daily columns that appeared in Hong Kong Economic Times, Ming Pao and The Sun.

Ma announced in 2004, prior to standing for election to the Legislative Council, that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.<ref name=critics>Carrie Chan and Diana Lee, "Ma critics use 4 June row to attack DAB", The Standard, 17 May 2007</ref>

Death

He left for treatment in Guangzhou soon after the Tiananmen controversy he sparked (see below). He died on 8 August 2007 at 2 pm in Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University.<ref>News on Ma Lik's death Template:Webarchive, Yahoo! Retrieved 8 August 2007.</ref> His body was transported back to Hong Kong on 11 August 2007. The funeral was held on 23 August. He was cremated according to his wishes.

Ma's death precipitated the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election, which was won by Anson Chan on 2 December 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tiananmen Square Massacre denial furore

On 15 May 2007, during an informal meeting Ma had with journalists to discuss political reform,<ref>"Ma Lik's Comments on June Fourth", Page A2, East South West North, ZoneEuropa, Accessed 22 May 2007</ref> Ma was asked on his views on the "Tiananmen massacre". Ma caused huge furore which hit radio broadcasts, the front pages and editorials of several of the local newspapers, which cited him denying that clampdown of the protesters was a "massacre".<ref name=iht>Pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong denies Tiananmen Square 'massacre' in 1989, Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, 15 May 2007</ref>

He said of 4000 students at the scene, not everyone was killed; certain student leaders, namely Chai Ling, Wuerkaixi, Feng Chungde, and Hou Dejian, were able to leave the protest site without incident, therefore it is not a massacre.<ref name=tirade/> Comments which appeared to cause the most offense related to the alleged army tanks' rolling over protesters, and the PLA's cremation of victim's bodies on-site:

Ma questioned whether "Gweilos" (a racial epithet for Caucasians) should be the ones to interpret the truth about Tiananmen,<ref name=tirade>Ambrose Leung, "Fury at DAB chief's Tiananmen tirade", Page 1, South China Morning Post, 16 May 2007</ref> and asserted that Hong Kong was "not mature enough", for believing a massacre took place. Hong Kong lacked patriotism and national identity, and would thus not be ready for universal suffrage until 2022.<ref name=tirade/>

Ma also asked the Education Department to define massacre as events where over 4,000 were dead, which would make Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 not a massacre under the new definition. He later withdrew the redefinition request.Template:Citation needed

Responses

Democrats and relatives of victims all attacked Ma for his comments. Szeto Wah called Ma "shameless", questioning if killings had to be on the scale of the Nanking Massacre to qualify.<ref name=ming>Page 1, Ming Pao, 16 May 2007</ref> He said that "facts written in blood cannot be twisted by lies".<ref name=tirade/> Democrat Cheung Man Kwong criticised the attempt at "whitewash",<ref name=tirade/> and denounced Ma as "cold-blooded".<ref name=critics/> Student leader of the protest, Wang Dan, said Ma was "utterly devoid of a conscience".<ref name=iht/> Albert Ho said: "Ma's remarks have put salt on the open historical wounds".<ref name=critics/>

Outraged by Ma's comments, 127 "Tiananmen Mothers", led by Ding Zilin, demanded a retraction and a public apology for the humiliation he has heaped on those who died.<ref name=ming3>Page A5, Ming Pao, 18 May 2007</ref>

The day after the remarks appeared in the headlines, Ma attended an RTHK radio phone-in, where he apologised for making "frivolous and giddy" remarks. Ma claimed he was merely trying to bring the rash claims about the number and manner of deaths reported in the foreign press into proper perspective.<ref name=critics/> He admitted he had perhaps been careless with his words, and would assume full responsibility for what he said.<ref name=ming2>馬力認輕佻拒撤觀點,否認促為六四定調 願受黨處分, Ming Pao, 17 May 2007 Template:In lang</ref> He stopped short of apologising for his comments in general.

One DAB Vice Chairman Tam Yiu Chung defended Ma, but questioned the timing: "people will understand it gradually".<ref name=tirade/> Fearing political fallout, another DAB Vice Chairman, Lau Kong Wah (Template:Lang), distanced the party from Ma, saying that Ma had expressed "a personal opinion".<ref name=iht/> Chan Wing-kee (Template:Lang), the head of ATV and CPPCC Standing Committee member declared Ma "a patriot" for his comments.<ref name=ming3/> Chan furthermore denounced the perennial Legco debate on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre as "unnecessary".<ref>Ma's massacre denials draw fire from activists, The Standard, 18 May 2007</ref> Another CPPCC member, Chang Ka-mun, chimed in, saying it was "irrational" to compare it to the Nanjing massacre.<ref name=exchange>Damon Pang, `Massacre' remarks trigger sharp exchange at City Forum, The Standard, 21 May 2007</ref>

The Central committee of the DAB declined any further action after their meeting on 22 May, stating that Vice-chairman Lau's response was adequate. There was no formal apology.

The annual vigil in memory of Tiananmen attracted an increased turnout in 2007. An estimated 55,000 people, more than a few of whom appear to have been spurred to attend by Ma's comments, packed Victoria Park,<ref>Scarlett Chiang, 4 June turnout rises amid outrage at Ma Template:Webarchive, The Standard, 5 June 2007</ref> up from 44,000 one year earlier.<ref>Justin Mitchell and Michael Ng, Tens of thousands at vigil Template:Webarchive, The Standard, 5 June 2006</ref>

Possible motives

Analysts began to comment that Ma's remarks might have been part of a concerted propaganda attempt by Beijing to dampen expectations for universal suffrage.<ref name="cold water">Chris Yeung, "Pouring cold water on democracy hopes", Page A14, South China Morning Post, 21 May 2007</ref> Template:CquoteThe timing of the above statement by NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo to a NPC deputies' meeting in March 2007, is considered important, as Donald Tsang promised a green paper (consultative document) on electoral reform would be published in the summer. Template:Citation needed

More recently, some local loyalists have issued statements pushing back the date for universal suffrage. Most notably, Cheng Yiu-tong ruled out direct elections for the Chief Executive in 2012.<ref name="cold water"/> He further warned pro-democracy advocates that universal suffrage in 2017 was unlikely. He blamed the lack of progress on the "intransigence" of democrats, who blocked reform proposals put forward in December 2005. Cheng said that the electoral system would "march on the spot again in 2012".<ref>Gary Cheng, "Warning over reform in 2017", Page A2, South China Morning Post, 21 May 2007</ref>

Other controversies

Anti-RTHK

On 20 October 1999 the pro-Beijing group fiercely attacked Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). Ma Lik publicly attacked RTHK from changing the role from a "watchdog" to a "mouthpiece" of the Hong Kong government.<ref>Wong, Yiu-Chung. [2004] (2004). One Country, Two Systems in Crisis: Hong Kong's Transformation Since the handover. Lexington Books. Template:ISBN.</ref>

Criticising Hong Kong

Ma Lik criticised the rate at which Hong Kong is moving. And that it would take until 2022 for the public to have acquired enough patriotism to accept Communist party rule.<ref name="pepper">Pepper, Suzanne. Keeping Democracy at Bay: Hong Kong and the Challenge of Chinese Political. [2007] (2007). Rowman & Littlefield. Template:ISBN.</ref>

See also

• United front in Hong Kong
• Regina Ip
• Tsang Yok-sing
• Tsang Tak-sing

External links

• Template:Commons-inline