Введение
Гонконгский активист и политик
Szeto Wah (; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1997 to 2004. Being one of the two icons of the Hong Kong democracy movement alongside Martin Lee, Szeto played an instrumental role in the emergence of the pro democracy camp. Entering politics as a trade unionist for teachers, Szeto founded the influential Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and was first elected to the colonial legislature through the newly created Teaching functional constituency in 1985. He and Martin Lee became the two pro democrats appointed to the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee by the Beijing government in 1985 until the duo resigned in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Szeto played a significant part in gathering popular support of the Hong Kong public in the Tiananmen democracy movement and subsequently the Operation Yellowbird rescuing the wanted democracy activists. He also founded the Hong Kong Alliance which has been responsible for the annual memorials for the protests. On the basis of the pro democracy support he also co founded the United Democrats of Hong Kong to contest in the first Legislative Council direct elections which later transformed into the Democratic Party. Szeto remained as the unofficial party whip of the Democratic Party. He retired from the Legislative Council in 2004 and retained his influence in the pan democracy camp. In 2010, he led the moderate faction of the camp to oppose the radical led Five Constituencies Referendum movement and played a significant role in drawing the revised proposal of the electoral reform package in the Democrats' negotiation with the Beijing authorities. He remained the chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance until he died in 2011 at the age of 79. Early life and underground activism
Szeto Wah was born in Hong Kong on 28 February 1931 in Hong Kong with the family root in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong. His father, Szeto Ting, moved to Hong Kong for work during his young age. In 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family moved back to Kaiping. He recalled his patriotism grew during the war when he heard about the stories of the Chinese war heroes. His mother died at the age of 38 in 1942 and his father remarried afterwards. In 1945, when the war had almost ended, his family moved back to Hong Kong. His father died of cancer at the Precious Blood Hospital in 1952 and was survived by his second wife and ten children. In Hong Kong, Szeto Wah studied at the Yau Ma Tei Government School and then Queen's College, and graduated from the Grantham College of Education. Under his brother Szeto Ming's influence, he and his siblings joined the YWCA which had a strong left wing leaning at the time during his student life. He was contacted by the underground Communists and joined the Chinese New Democracy Youth League, the predecessor of the Communist Youth League of China, in September 1949. Under the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Szeto founded the Hok Yau Club in 1949. Without any official affiliation, Hok Yau Club was responsible for recruiting youths for the Communist cause. Among the recruits at the time was Mo Kwan nin, who rose to the deputy director of the New China News Agency in 1980s. The club ceased to function between 1952 and 1953 after it was busted by the Hong Kong Police Special Branch. At the same time, he entered the teaching profession in 1952. After the journal was closed down in 1966, the party ceased to contact Szeto. Teacher unionism and activism
In 1971, the Hong Kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers. In 1977, the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was exposed with a corruption scandal. The teachers and students launched a strike for two days. In response, the Director of Education issued warning letters to the teachers. The PTU received complaints from the teachers and demanded the withdrawal of the warning letters. Afterwards, the school changed its leadership and issued new restrictions into teachers' contracts and warning letters to teachers against Szeto Wah's advice. In May 1977, the Education Department closed down the school with the approval of the Executive Council. The PTU organised assemblies and petitions to demand the reopening of the school and investigation of the event. As a result, Governor Murray MacLehose appointed a three member committee into the event consisting of Rayson Huang, Lo King man and Maisie Wong. The committee suggested the founding of the Ng Yuk Secondary School to receive the teachers and students, withdrawing the warning letters and negating the actions of the school. The PTU continued to grow into a significant labour union and pressure group in the territory. According to do Rosario, Szeto even became one of "the most influential persons in Hongkong's political scene mid 70s". Szeto Wah also launched a petition movement as the civil Chief Executive to mock the first Chief Executive election of 1996 by the Beijing controlled 400 member Selection Committee. Szeto eventually accumulated more than 104,000 signatures with their ID numbers. The election was ultimately won by shipping magnate Tung Chee hwa who was hand picked by Beijing. For his staunch pro democracy conviction, Time'' once described him as "democracy's foot soldier", and named him one of the 25 most influential people in Hong Kong. Szeto Wah and other Democrats ran in the first SAR Legislative Council election in May 1998 in which Szeto and Li Wah ming won about 145,000 votes, taking two of the three seats in Kowloon East. Although the pro democrats won 20 seats, their influence was balanced by the pro Beijing members elected through the 10 seat Election Committee constituency. Szeto was re elected in 2000 and decided to retire in 2004. In 2005, the "Real Brothers incident" broke out in the Democratic Party as there were allegations of the reformist faction being infiltrated by Beijing. Szeto Wah became one of the five member committee to investigate the incident. As a result, the accused reformist faction was defeated in the 2006 intra party election. On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was one of eight people arrested and charged with speaking at a radio show broadcast hosted by the unlicensed Citizen's Radio on the subject of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Critics argued that the Hong Kong government selectively persecuted Szeto for using unlicensed equipment when delivering the political message as other members had spoken on the radio and were not charged. Szeto Wah attended the party meeting after chemotherapy and spoke in support of the revised proposal, stating that it was better to have the increase of five directly elected seats, five functional constituency seats but almost directly elected and the abolition of the appointed District Council seats than nothing. After the Democratic Party voted for the revised package, the Democratic Party and Szeto Wah received harsh criticisms from its former allies and supporters, condemning them for betraying democracy and the Hong Kong people. "Longhair" Leung Kwok hung in a protest in front of the PTU headquarters said Szeto Wah had his cancer got into his brain. In the following 1 July march, Szeto on his wheelchair also received criticisms from his supporters, saying that the "Democratic Party sold out Hong Kong people." In response, Szeto argued, "Sold out? How much for selling out? Are you pig or dog? Can you be sold out?"
Сето Ва (; 28 февраля 1931 – 2 января 2011) был гонконгским активистом и политиком, выступавшим за демократию. Он был основателем и председателем Гонконгского альянса в поддержку патриотических демократических движений Китая, Гонконгского профессионального союза учителей и членом Законодательного совета Гонконга с 1985 по 1997 год и с 1997 по 2004 год. Будучи одной из двух знаковых фигур демократического движения Гонконга наряду с Мартином Ли, Сето сыграл ключевую роль в становлении продемократического лагеря. Начав политическую деятельность как профсоюзный деятель учителей, Сето основал влиятельный Гонконгский профессиональный союз учителей и впервые был избран в колониальный законодательный орган по вновь созданному функциональному избирательному округу "Образование" в 1985 году. Он и Мартин Ли стали двумя представителями продемократического направления, назначенными в Комитет по разработке Основного закона Гонконга правительством Пекина в 1985 году, пока оба не подали в отставку после протестов и расстрела на площади Тяньаньмэнь в 1989 году. Сето сыграл важную роль в мобилизации общественной поддержки гонконгского населения в движении за демократию на площади Тяньаньмэнь, а затем в операции "Желтая птица" по спасению преследуемых активистов демократии. Он также основал Гонконгский альянс, который ежегодно организует памятные мероприятия в связи с протестами. На основе поддержки демократии он также стал соучредителем Объединенных демократов Гонконга для участия в первых прямых выборах в Законодательный совет, которые впоследствии трансформировались в Демократическую партию. Сето оставался неофициальным партийным координатором Демократической партии. В 2004 году он ушел из Законодательного совета, сохранив свое влияние в пандемократическом лагере. В 2010 году он возглавил умеренное крыло лагеря, выступившее против движения "Референдум по пяти избирательным округам" и сыграл значительную роль в разработке пересмотренного предложения пакета избирательной реформы в ходе переговоров демократов с властями Пекина. Он оставался председателем Гонконгского альянса до своей смерти в 2011 году в возрасте 79 лет. Ранняя жизнь и подпольная деятельность
Szeto Wah (; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1997 to 2004. Being one of the two icons of the Hong Kong democracy movement alongside Martin Lee, Szeto played an instrumental role in the emergence of the pro democracy camp. Entering politics as a trade unionist for teachers, Szeto founded the influential Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and was first elected to the colonial legislature through the newly created Teaching functional constituency in 1985. He and Martin Lee became the two pro democrats appointed to the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee by the Beijing government in 1985 until the duo resigned in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Szeto played a significant part in gathering popular support of the Hong Kong public in the Tiananmen democracy movement and subsequently the Operation Yellowbird rescuing the wanted democracy activists. He also founded the Hong Kong Alliance which has been responsible for the annual memorials for the protests. On the basis of the pro democracy support he also co founded the United Democrats of Hong Kong to contest in the first Legislative Council direct elections which later transformed into the Democratic Party. Szeto remained as the unofficial party whip of the Democratic Party. He retired from the Legislative Council in 2004 and retained his influence in the pan democracy camp. In 2010, he led the moderate faction of the camp to oppose the radical led Five Constituencies Referendum movement and played a significant role in drawing the revised proposal of the electoral reform package in the Democrats' negotiation with the Beijing authorities. He remained the chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance until he died in 2011 at the age of 79. Early life and underground activism
Szeto Wah was born in Hong Kong on 28 February 1931 in Hong Kong with the family root in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong. His father, Szeto Ting, moved to Hong Kong for work during his young age. In 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family moved back to Kaiping. He recalled his patriotism grew during the war when he heard about the stories of the Chinese war heroes. His mother died at the age of 38 in 1942 and his father remarried afterwards. In 1945, when the war had almost ended, his family moved back to Hong Kong. His father died of cancer at the Precious Blood Hospital in 1952 and was survived by his second wife and ten children. In Hong Kong, Szeto Wah studied at the Yau Ma Tei Government School and then Queen's College, and graduated from the Grantham College of Education. Under his brother Szeto Ming's influence, he and his siblings joined the YWCA which had a strong left wing leaning at the time during his student life. He was contacted by the underground Communists and joined the Chinese New Democracy Youth League, the predecessor of the Communist Youth League of China, in September 1949. Under the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Szeto founded the Hok Yau Club in 1949. Without any official affiliation, Hok Yau Club was responsible for recruiting youths for the Communist cause. Among the recruits at the time was Mo Kwan nin, who rose to the deputy director of the New China News Agency in 1980s. The club ceased to function between 1952 and 1953 after it was busted by the Hong Kong Police Special Branch. At the same time, he entered the teaching profession in 1952. After the journal was closed down in 1966, the party ceased to contact Szeto. Teacher unionism and activism
In 1971, the Hong Kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers. In 1977, the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was exposed with a corruption scandal. The teachers and students launched a strike for two days. In response, the Director of Education issued warning letters to the teachers. The PTU received complaints from the teachers and demanded the withdrawal of the warning letters. Afterwards, the school changed its leadership and issued new restrictions into teachers' contracts and warning letters to teachers against Szeto Wah's advice. In May 1977, the Education Department closed down the school with the approval of the Executive Council. The PTU organised assemblies and petitions to demand the reopening of the school and investigation of the event. As a result, Governor Murray MacLehose appointed a three member committee into the event consisting of Rayson Huang, Lo King man and Maisie Wong. The committee suggested the founding of the Ng Yuk Secondary School to receive the teachers and students, withdrawing the warning letters and negating the actions of the school. The PTU continued to grow into a significant labour union and pressure group in the territory. According to do Rosario, Szeto even became one of "the most influential persons in Hongkong's political scene mid 70s". Szeto Wah also launched a petition movement as the civil Chief Executive to mock the first Chief Executive election of 1996 by the Beijing controlled 400 member Selection Committee. Szeto eventually accumulated more than 104,000 signatures with their ID numbers. The election was ultimately won by shipping magnate Tung Chee hwa who was hand picked by Beijing. For his staunch pro democracy conviction, Time'' once described him as "democracy's foot soldier", and named him one of the 25 most influential people in Hong Kong. Szeto Wah and other Democrats ran in the first SAR Legislative Council election in May 1998 in which Szeto and Li Wah ming won about 145,000 votes, taking two of the three seats in Kowloon East. Although the pro democrats won 20 seats, their influence was balanced by the pro Beijing members elected through the 10 seat Election Committee constituency. Szeto was re elected in 2000 and decided to retire in 2004. In 2005, the "Real Brothers incident" broke out in the Democratic Party as there were allegations of the reformist faction being infiltrated by Beijing. Szeto Wah became one of the five member committee to investigate the incident. As a result, the accused reformist faction was defeated in the 2006 intra party election. On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was one of eight people arrested and charged with speaking at a radio show broadcast hosted by the unlicensed Citizen's Radio on the subject of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Critics argued that the Hong Kong government selectively persecuted Szeto for using unlicensed equipment when delivering the political message as other members had spoken on the radio and were not charged. Szeto Wah attended the party meeting after chemotherapy and spoke in support of the revised proposal, stating that it was better to have the increase of five directly elected seats, five functional constituency seats but almost directly elected and the abolition of the appointed District Council seats than nothing. After the Democratic Party voted for the revised package, the Democratic Party and Szeto Wah received harsh criticisms from its former allies and supporters, condemning them for betraying democracy and the Hong Kong people. "Longhair" Leung Kwok hung in a protest in front of the PTU headquarters said Szeto Wah had his cancer got into his brain. In the following 1 July march, Szeto on his wheelchair also received criticisms from his supporters, saying that the "Democratic Party sold out Hong Kong people." In response, Szeto argued, "Sold out? How much for selling out? Are you pig or dog? Can you be sold out?"
Сето Ва родился в Гонконге 28 февраля 1931 года, его семья происходила из Чикана, Кайпин, провинция Гуандун. Его отец, Сето Тин, переехал в Гонконг на заработки в молодости. В 1941 году, во время японской оккупации Гонконга, его семья вернулась в Кайпин. Он вспоминал, что его патриотизм рос во время войны, когда он слышал истории о китайских героях. Его мать умерла в возрасте 38 лет в 1942 году, а его отец впоследствии женился повторно. В 1945 году, когда война почти закончилась, его семья вернулась в Гонконг. Его отец умер от рака в больнице Precious Blood в 1952 году, оставив после себя вторую жену и десять детей. В Гонконге Сето Ва учился в правительственной школе Яу Ма Тэи, затем в Королевском колледже и окончил Колледж образования Грантема. Под влиянием своего брата Сето Минга он и его братья присоединились к YMCA, которая в то время имела ярко выраженную левую ориентацию, во время учебы. Он вышел на связь с подпольными коммунистами и в сентябре 1949 года вступил в Китайскую лигу новой демократической молодежи, предшественницу Коммунистической молодежной лиги Китая. По указанию Коммунистической партии Китая (КПК) Сето в 1949 году основал клуб Хок Яу. Клуб Хок Яу, не имея официальной принадлежности, занимался вербовкой молодежи для коммунистического дела. Среди новобранцев в то время был Мо Кван Нин, который в 1980-х годах стал заместителем директора Новокитайского информационного агентства. Клуб прекратил свою деятельность в 1952–1953 годах после того, как был раскрыт специальным отделом полиции Гонконга. В 1952 году он начал педагогическую деятельность. После закрытия журнала в 1966 году партия прекратила контакты с Сето. Профсоюзная деятельность и активизм учителей
Szeto Wah (; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1997 to 2004. Being one of the two icons of the Hong Kong democracy movement alongside Martin Lee, Szeto played an instrumental role in the emergence of the pro democracy camp. Entering politics as a trade unionist for teachers, Szeto founded the influential Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and was first elected to the colonial legislature through the newly created Teaching functional constituency in 1985. He and Martin Lee became the two pro democrats appointed to the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee by the Beijing government in 1985 until the duo resigned in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Szeto played a significant part in gathering popular support of the Hong Kong public in the Tiananmen democracy movement and subsequently the Operation Yellowbird rescuing the wanted democracy activists. He also founded the Hong Kong Alliance which has been responsible for the annual memorials for the protests. On the basis of the pro democracy support he also co founded the United Democrats of Hong Kong to contest in the first Legislative Council direct elections which later transformed into the Democratic Party. Szeto remained as the unofficial party whip of the Democratic Party. He retired from the Legislative Council in 2004 and retained his influence in the pan democracy camp. In 2010, he led the moderate faction of the camp to oppose the radical led Five Constituencies Referendum movement and played a significant role in drawing the revised proposal of the electoral reform package in the Democrats' negotiation with the Beijing authorities. He remained the chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance until he died in 2011 at the age of 79. Early life and underground activism
Szeto Wah was born in Hong Kong on 28 February 1931 in Hong Kong with the family root in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong. His father, Szeto Ting, moved to Hong Kong for work during his young age. In 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family moved back to Kaiping. He recalled his patriotism grew during the war when he heard about the stories of the Chinese war heroes. His mother died at the age of 38 in 1942 and his father remarried afterwards. In 1945, when the war had almost ended, his family moved back to Hong Kong. His father died of cancer at the Precious Blood Hospital in 1952 and was survived by his second wife and ten children. In Hong Kong, Szeto Wah studied at the Yau Ma Tei Government School and then Queen's College, and graduated from the Grantham College of Education. Under his brother Szeto Ming's influence, he and his siblings joined the YWCA which had a strong left wing leaning at the time during his student life. He was contacted by the underground Communists and joined the Chinese New Democracy Youth League, the predecessor of the Communist Youth League of China, in September 1949. Under the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Szeto founded the Hok Yau Club in 1949. Without any official affiliation, Hok Yau Club was responsible for recruiting youths for the Communist cause. Among the recruits at the time was Mo Kwan nin, who rose to the deputy director of the New China News Agency in 1980s. The club ceased to function between 1952 and 1953 after it was busted by the Hong Kong Police Special Branch. At the same time, he entered the teaching profession in 1952. After the journal was closed down in 1966, the party ceased to contact Szeto. Teacher unionism and activism
In 1971, the Hong Kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers. In 1977, the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was exposed with a corruption scandal. The teachers and students launched a strike for two days. In response, the Director of Education issued warning letters to the teachers. The PTU received complaints from the teachers and demanded the withdrawal of the warning letters. Afterwards, the school changed its leadership and issued new restrictions into teachers' contracts and warning letters to teachers against Szeto Wah's advice. In May 1977, the Education Department closed down the school with the approval of the Executive Council. The PTU organised assemblies and petitions to demand the reopening of the school and investigation of the event. As a result, Governor Murray MacLehose appointed a three member committee into the event consisting of Rayson Huang, Lo King man and Maisie Wong. The committee suggested the founding of the Ng Yuk Secondary School to receive the teachers and students, withdrawing the warning letters and negating the actions of the school. The PTU continued to grow into a significant labour union and pressure group in the territory. According to do Rosario, Szeto even became one of "the most influential persons in Hongkong's political scene mid 70s". Szeto Wah also launched a petition movement as the civil Chief Executive to mock the first Chief Executive election of 1996 by the Beijing controlled 400 member Selection Committee. Szeto eventually accumulated more than 104,000 signatures with their ID numbers. The election was ultimately won by shipping magnate Tung Chee hwa who was hand picked by Beijing. For his staunch pro democracy conviction, Time'' once described him as "democracy's foot soldier", and named him one of the 25 most influential people in Hong Kong. Szeto Wah and other Democrats ran in the first SAR Legislative Council election in May 1998 in which Szeto and Li Wah ming won about 145,000 votes, taking two of the three seats in Kowloon East. Although the pro democrats won 20 seats, their influence was balanced by the pro Beijing members elected through the 10 seat Election Committee constituency. Szeto was re elected in 2000 and decided to retire in 2004. In 2005, the "Real Brothers incident" broke out in the Democratic Party as there were allegations of the reformist faction being infiltrated by Beijing. Szeto Wah became one of the five member committee to investigate the incident. As a result, the accused reformist faction was defeated in the 2006 intra party election. On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was one of eight people arrested and charged with speaking at a radio show broadcast hosted by the unlicensed Citizen's Radio on the subject of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Critics argued that the Hong Kong government selectively persecuted Szeto for using unlicensed equipment when delivering the political message as other members had spoken on the radio and were not charged. Szeto Wah attended the party meeting after chemotherapy and spoke in support of the revised proposal, stating that it was better to have the increase of five directly elected seats, five functional constituency seats but almost directly elected and the abolition of the appointed District Council seats than nothing. After the Democratic Party voted for the revised package, the Democratic Party and Szeto Wah received harsh criticisms from its former allies and supporters, condemning them for betraying democracy and the Hong Kong people. "Longhair" Leung Kwok hung in a protest in front of the PTU headquarters said Szeto Wah had his cancer got into his brain. In the following 1 July march, Szeto on his wheelchair also received criticisms from his supporters, saying that the "Democratic Party sold out Hong Kong people." In response, Szeto argued, "Sold out? How much for selling out? Are you pig or dog? Can you be sold out?"
В 1971 году правительство Гонконга предложило отвязать зарплаты учителей с сертификатами от зарплат медсестер, что привело к их снижению на 15 процентов, вызвав возмущение среди учителей. В 1977 году в средней школе "Золотой юбилей драгоценной крови" был раскрыт коррупционный скандал. Учителя и ученики объявили двухдневную забастовку. В ответ директор образования направил учителям предупредительные письма. PTU получил жалобы от учителей и потребовал отмены предупредительных писем. После этого школа сменила руководство и ввела новые ограничения в контракты учителей, а также направила учителям предупредительные письма вопреки советам Сето Ва. В мае 1977 года Департамент образования закрыл школу с одобрения Исполнительного совета. PTU организовал собрания и петиции с требованием повторного открытия школы и расследования инцидента. В результате губернатор Мюррей МакЛехоз назначил трехчленную комиссию для расследования инцидента, в которую вошли Рейсон Хуан, Ло Кинг Ман и Мэйси Вонг. Комиссия предложила основать среднюю школу имени Нг Юк для приема учителей и учеников, отменить предупредительные письма и отменить действия школы. PTU продолжал расти как значительный профсоюз и группа давления на территории. По словам до Розарио, Сето даже стал одним из "самых влиятельных людей в политической сцене Гонконга в середине 70-х". Сето Ва также инициировал петиционное движение в качестве гражданского главного исполнительного директора, чтобы высмеять первые выборы главного исполнительного директора в 1996 году, проведенные 400-членным Избирательным комитетом, контролируемым Пекином. Сето в конечном итоге собрал более 104 000 подписей с указанием их идентификационных номеров. Выборы в конечном итоге выиграл судоходный магнат Тун Чихва, которого выбрал Пекин. За его твердую приверженность демократии журнал Time однажды описал его как "пехотинца демократии" и назвал одним из 25 самых влиятельных людей в Гонконге. Сето Ва и другие демократы участвовали в первых выборах в Законодательный совет САР в мае 1998 года, на которых Сето и Ли Ва Минг получили около 145 000 голосов, завоевав два из трех мест в Восточном Коулуне. Хотя продемократы выиграли 20 мест, их влияние было уравновешено членами, поддерживающими Пекин, избранными через 10-местный избирательный округ Избирательного комитета. Он был переизбран в 2000 году и решил уйти в отставку в 2004 году. В 2005 году в Демократической партии разразился "инцидент с настоящими братьями", поскольку появились обвинения в том, что реформистское крыло было внедрилось Пекином. Сето Ва стал одним из пяти членов комитета для расследования инцидента. В результате обвиненное реформистское крыло потерпело поражение на внутрипартийных выборах 2006 года. 25 мая 2007 года Сето Ва был одним из восьми человек, арестованных и обвиненных в выступлении на радиошоу, транслируемом нелицензированной Citizen's Radio, на тему протестов и расстрела на площади Тяньаньмэнь в 1989 году. Критики утверждали, что правительство Гонконга избирательно преследовало Сето за использование нелицензированного оборудования при передаче политического сообщения, в то время как другим участникам радиопередачи не были предъявлены обвинения. Сето Ва посетил партийное собрание после химиотерапии и высказался в поддержку пересмотренного предложения пакета избирательной реформы в ходе переговоров демократов с властями Пекина. После того как Демократическая партия проголосовала за пересмотренный пакет, Демократическая партия и Сето Ва подверглись резкой критике со стороны своих бывших союзников и сторонников, которые обвинили их в предательстве демократии и народа Гонконга. "Длинноволосый" Люн Куок Хун на протесте перед штаб-квартирой PTU заявил, что рак Сето Ва проник в его мозг. На последовавшем 1 июля марше Сето, находясь в инвалидном кресле, также подвергся критике со стороны своих сторонников, которые заявили, что "Демократическая партия продала народ Гонконга". В ответ Сето возразил: "Продали? За сколько продали? Вы свинья или собака? Можно ли вас продать?"
Szeto Wah (; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1997 to 2004. Being one of the two icons of the Hong Kong democracy movement alongside Martin Lee, Szeto played an instrumental role in the emergence of the pro democracy camp. Entering politics as a trade unionist for teachers, Szeto founded the influential Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and was first elected to the colonial legislature through the newly created Teaching functional constituency in 1985. He and Martin Lee became the two pro democrats appointed to the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee by the Beijing government in 1985 until the duo resigned in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Szeto played a significant part in gathering popular support of the Hong Kong public in the Tiananmen democracy movement and subsequently the Operation Yellowbird rescuing the wanted democracy activists. He also founded the Hong Kong Alliance which has been responsible for the annual memorials for the protests. On the basis of the pro democracy support he also co founded the United Democrats of Hong Kong to contest in the first Legislative Council direct elections which later transformed into the Democratic Party. Szeto remained as the unofficial party whip of the Democratic Party. He retired from the Legislative Council in 2004 and retained his influence in the pan democracy camp. In 2010, he led the moderate faction of the camp to oppose the radical led Five Constituencies Referendum movement and played a significant role in drawing the revised proposal of the electoral reform package in the Democrats' negotiation with the Beijing authorities. He remained the chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance until he died in 2011 at the age of 79. Early life and underground activism
Szeto Wah was born in Hong Kong on 28 February 1931 in Hong Kong with the family root in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong. His father, Szeto Ting, moved to Hong Kong for work during his young age. In 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family moved back to Kaiping. He recalled his patriotism grew during the war when he heard about the stories of the Chinese war heroes. His mother died at the age of 38 in 1942 and his father remarried afterwards. In 1945, when the war had almost ended, his family moved back to Hong Kong. His father died of cancer at the Precious Blood Hospital in 1952 and was survived by his second wife and ten children. In Hong Kong, Szeto Wah studied at the Yau Ma Tei Government School and then Queen's College, and graduated from the Grantham College of Education. Under his brother Szeto Ming's influence, he and his siblings joined the YWCA which had a strong left wing leaning at the time during his student life. He was contacted by the underground Communists and joined the Chinese New Democracy Youth League, the predecessor of the Communist Youth League of China, in September 1949. Under the instruction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Szeto founded the Hok Yau Club in 1949. Without any official affiliation, Hok Yau Club was responsible for recruiting youths for the Communist cause. Among the recruits at the time was Mo Kwan nin, who rose to the deputy director of the New China News Agency in 1980s. The club ceased to function between 1952 and 1953 after it was busted by the Hong Kong Police Special Branch. At the same time, he entered the teaching profession in 1952. After the journal was closed down in 1966, the party ceased to contact Szeto. Teacher unionism and activism
In 1971, the Hong Kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers. In 1977, the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was exposed with a corruption scandal. The teachers and students launched a strike for two days. In response, the Director of Education issued warning letters to the teachers. The PTU received complaints from the teachers and demanded the withdrawal of the warning letters. Afterwards, the school changed its leadership and issued new restrictions into teachers' contracts and warning letters to teachers against Szeto Wah's advice. In May 1977, the Education Department closed down the school with the approval of the Executive Council. The PTU organised assemblies and petitions to demand the reopening of the school and investigation of the event. As a result, Governor Murray MacLehose appointed a three member committee into the event consisting of Rayson Huang, Lo King man and Maisie Wong. The committee suggested the founding of the Ng Yuk Secondary School to receive the teachers and students, withdrawing the warning letters and negating the actions of the school. The PTU continued to grow into a significant labour union and pressure group in the territory. According to do Rosario, Szeto even became one of "the most influential persons in Hongkong's political scene mid 70s". Szeto Wah also launched a petition movement as the civil Chief Executive to mock the first Chief Executive election of 1996 by the Beijing controlled 400 member Selection Committee. Szeto eventually accumulated more than 104,000 signatures with their ID numbers. The election was ultimately won by shipping magnate Tung Chee hwa who was hand picked by Beijing. For his staunch pro democracy conviction, Time'' once described him as "democracy's foot soldier", and named him one of the 25 most influential people in Hong Kong. Szeto Wah and other Democrats ran in the first SAR Legislative Council election in May 1998 in which Szeto and Li Wah ming won about 145,000 votes, taking two of the three seats in Kowloon East. Although the pro democrats won 20 seats, their influence was balanced by the pro Beijing members elected through the 10 seat Election Committee constituency. Szeto was re elected in 2000 and decided to retire in 2004. In 2005, the "Real Brothers incident" broke out in the Democratic Party as there were allegations of the reformist faction being infiltrated by Beijing. Szeto Wah became one of the five member committee to investigate the incident. As a result, the accused reformist faction was defeated in the 2006 intra party election. On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was one of eight people arrested and charged with speaking at a radio show broadcast hosted by the unlicensed Citizen's Radio on the subject of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Critics argued that the Hong Kong government selectively persecuted Szeto for using unlicensed equipment when delivering the political message as other members had spoken on the radio and were not charged. Szeto Wah attended the party meeting after chemotherapy and spoke in support of the revised proposal, stating that it was better to have the increase of five directly elected seats, five functional constituency seats but almost directly elected and the abolition of the appointed District Council seats than nothing. After the Democratic Party voted for the revised package, the Democratic Party and Szeto Wah received harsh criticisms from its former allies and supporters, condemning them for betraying democracy and the Hong Kong people. "Longhair" Leung Kwok hung in a protest in front of the PTU headquarters said Szeto Wah had his cancer got into his brain. In the following 1 July march, Szeto on his wheelchair also received criticisms from his supporters, saying that the "Democratic Party sold out Hong Kong people." In response, Szeto argued, "Sold out? How much for selling out? Are you pig or dog? Can you be sold out?"
Смерть и похороны
Сето Вах умер 2 января 2011 года в больнице Принца Уэльского. Ему было 79 лет. Его последние слова были: «Успех не обязан быть связанным с моим именем, однако, когда успех придет, я буду частью его». На церемонии в церкви Святого Андрея в Цим Ша Цуй колокола пробили шесть длинных и четыре коротких удара, символизируя жертв протестов и расстрела на площади Тяньаньмэнь. В соответствии с его завещанием, тело Сето было кремировано; половина праха развеяна в водах Гонконга, а другая половина – в саду крематория Кейп Коллинсон. Изгнанные диссиденты с материка Ван Дан и Уэркайси выразили сильное желание присутствовать на похоронах. Пандемократы обратились к правительству Гонконга с просьбой разрешить им въехать в Гонконг для участия в похоронах Сето по гуманитарным соображениям, в рамках принципа «одна страна, две системы», однако делегат ВСНП (NPCSC) Рита Фан заявила, что эта просьба представляет собой серьезную дилемму для правительства, поскольку она создаст прецедент. 10 января директор Управления по делам Гонконга и Макао Ван Гуанья заявил, что решение о разрешении на въезд диссидентов находится в компетенции правительства Гонконга, и выразил уверенность, что они «с этим справятся». 26 января правительство объявило об отклонении заявления Ван Дана о въезде в Гонконг после «внимательного рассмотрения»; представитель правительства пояснил, что решение было принято, исходя из потенциальных «последствий» его въезда. Это решение подверглось критике со стороны Ван Дана, Уэркайси и продемократического законодателя Ли Чук Яна, которые заявили, что правительство отказалось от принципа «одна страна, две системы».
Личная жизнь
Сето Ва никогда не был женат. Единственным публично признанным романтическим увлечением в его жизни была связь с его коллегой-учителем Вон Сиу Юн, скончавшейся в 1980-х годах. Под влиянием Вонга Сето принял крещение и стал христианином 8 апреля 1985 года. Он жил со своей младшей сестрой в Монг-Коке. Его брат, Сето Кюнг, в 1950-х годах устроился в гонконгское отделение государственного агентства новостей «Синьхуа» и продолжал там работать. Помимо политической деятельности, Сето был также известен своим мастерством китайской каллиграфии. Он также любил плавать.