U.S. scholar's return will test HK law

Li Shaomin teaches at Hong Kong's City University

HONG KONG, China -- U.S. academic Li Shaomin, convicted in Beijing of spying and later expelled from China, wants to return to his university post in Hong Kong.

But his wish could set the stage for a major test of the territory's promised autonomy under Chinese rule.

In an interview with the Hong Kong-based Sunday Morning Post newspaper, Li said he wanted to return to life where he left off before his arrest in southern China in February.

"If there is one central theme running through my mind after all of this, it is that I just want to return to live a normal life in Hong Kong," he was quoted as saying.

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Li flew to the United States after being expelled from China last week and was interviewed by the Post in Washington, where he was reunited with his wife and daughter.

"My father is in Hong Kong, my home is in Hong Kong. I want to sleep in my own bed," he said.

"I want my daughter to go to her school. I see no reason why I should not be able to settle back to a normal existence after all of this."

It may not be so easy.

His return to Hong Kong, reunited with China in 1997 after 150 years of British rule, poses a major test of the territory's autonomy within communist China.

United under a "one country, two systems" formula, Hong Kong kept its capitalist economy and British Common Law tradition for 50 years but Beijing controls all foreign and defence policy. The People's Liberation Army is stationed in the territory.

Spy denials

Views are mixed on how the "one country, two systems" formula applies in this case.

The legal systems are separate so Li's conviction may not count in Hong Kong but he was convicted of spying on one country, which includes China and Hong Kong.

Li maintained his innocence at his trial and denies China's allegation that he confessed to spying for arch-rival Taiwan.

"I am innocent. I am not a spy. I don't need to explain it any more than that," Li, a marketing professor at Hong Kong's City University, told the Post.

Many of his colleagues have said they expect him to slip back smoothly to his post but pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong have been less welcoming.

They have said Li was expelled from China, and that includes Hong Kong, and at the very least Hong Kong should seek Beijing's permission before letting Li return.

Kow-tow

So far Beijing's handpicked Hong Kong leader, Tung Chee-hwa, has dodged questions about Li, facing the uncomfortable choice of appearing to kow-tow to China by keeping Li out or having to defy Beijing by letting him in.

Li said he has a valid work permit and a year to go on his contract with the university, which has treated Li's absence as "leave" and said it would adopt a flexible approach to his case.

But since his release, it has declined to comment and there have been suggestions the university should save the government embarrassment by dismissing Li after his criminal conviction.

All eyes are on the Immigration Department, which says only that Li is a foreign national and matters related to his entry will be in accordance with existing policy and procedures.

Li's father, a retired senior Chinese official who lives in Hong Kong, said he was awaiting his son's home-coming eagerly.

"I thought of him every day . . . and now I have only seen him on TV. We're very close. I must see him in person and have a proper reunion," Li Honglin, 76, told Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.