"Things have been going very badly," said Martin Lee, a lawyer and prominent pro-democracy politician.

A more pressing concern for some pro-democracy politicians is the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Despite their qualms, even pro-democracy politicians credit Beijing with masterly public relations.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians said public dissatisfaction with the state of the economy brought people out in record numbers to vote in Sunday's legislative elections.

He is known as a pro-democracy, libertarian politician.

His remarks alarmed journalists and pro-democracy politicians here.

"There has been a great outcry, but the government is consistently defending the rights of China," said Martin Lee, a prominent pro-democracy politician here.

While widely expected, the move elicited a torrent of protest from lawyers and pro-democracy politicians here.

Their first targets were members of the Government who supported the August 1993 agreement, human rights monitors and pro-democracy politicians.

The move has touched off a storm of protest from legal experts and pro-democracy politicians here.