A bookish former schoolmaster, Szeto says he prefers cooperation to confrontation. But memories of Tiananmen deter Szeto from putting much faith in such talks. I know now that they will never allow any challenge to their authority. He has already been expelled from a China-appointed panel drawing up Hong Kong's future constitution and told he would never be allowed to take part in the territory's administration. If that goes, we can no longer protect human rights, and democracy suffers.
Governments become corrupt, and the legal system is abused.
If China does not become more democratic, there is little hope for Hong Kong. A tail does not move a dog. If the dog dies, the tail dies too. For several months after Tiananmen, as he lambasted the Chinese government, he received death threats. A more immediate danger is prison.