Martin Lee

He is a Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), elected by direct election from the Geographical Constituency of Hong Kong Island. Professionally he is a barrister-at-law, and as of 2003 the first on the order of precedence of Senior Counsels in Hong Kong. He has been the major face of the Hong Kong democracy movement on the international stage, especially in the United States.

After he graduated from Wah Yan College, Kowloon, Lee obtained his undergraduate BA degree at the University of Hong Kong, and studied law at Lincoln's Inn in London. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1979, and was the chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association from 1980 to 1983. He has been a LegCo member from 1985 to 1997, and a member of the Basic Law Drafting Committee from 1985 to 1989. He also chaired the Hong Kong Consumer Council from 1988 to 1991.

Lee chaired the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) since its establishment in 1991, and retained his chairmanship when the group was transformed into the Democratic Party in 1994. He was succeeded in the position by Yeung Sum in 2001.

In the run up to the reunification of Hong Kong with Mainland China in 1997, Lee was an outspoken critic of China's policy towards Hong Kong and a supporter of the political reform of the former Governor Chris Patten. Internationally he became an icon for fighting the Chinese government for more democracy in Hong Kong, and was recognized and awarded by a number of international organizations, including the "1995 International Human Rights Award" by the American Bar Association, "Democracy Award" of the US National Endowment for Democracy in 1997, and the "Schuman Medal" in 2000 which Lee was the first non-European to receive from the European Peoples Party and European Democrats.

Lee was forced to leave the Basic Law Drafting Committee immediately after the infamous Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, when he realised that the long-term trends in China were not in favour of moving towards democracy and human rights. Indeed, the zeal behind Lee's activism is to renew the momentum behind the Chinese democracy movement which has stalled since 1989.

On the other hand some considered his frequent overseas visits, during which he urged foreign concerns and actions on Hong Kong affairs and attacked the implementation "One country, two systems", situations of human rights, judicial independence and the autonomy of Hong Kong, damaging to the reputation of Hong Kong. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee Hwa, had criticized him of "bad-mouthing" Hong Kong. Lee responded that the overseas governments are legitimately concerned over the situation in Hong Kong, citing, for example, the 1992 U.S.–Hong Kong Policy Act of the US, under which the US Government is committed to support democratic institutions in Hong Kong, and could terminate Hong Kong's special economic treatment if the US President considers that Hong Kong is not sufficiently autonomous to justify such treatments.