HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong may have shelved a controversial anti-subversion law but for one unlikely combatant, the 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church in the territory, the danger of freedoms being eroded remains.
"If the law passes then the danger is there," Bishop Joseph Zen told AFP from his office in central Hong Kong.
"We hope the new leaders may make changes for the better in China. But in China nothing is certain because the government may do stupid things."
In his dog-collar and black suit, the bishop seems an unlikely political activist. Yet since taking over as head of Hong Kong's Catholics in September he has become known as "the conscience of Hong Kong", speaking out on the proposed Article 23 legislation and how it could curb Hong Kong's freedoms.
Previously he had been a critic of the territory's limited democracy and seemingly harsh immigration rules, the Falun Gong and the ambiguous status of the church in China.
But it is the anti-subversion bill Article 23 that has marked his tenure, coming as it did on the heels of his appointment to the top post.
Zen had not wanted to lead the church's 250,000 congregation here, preferring instead to continue as the office's deputy, but Rome insisted.
So Zen decided to become less outspoken and "change a little my style".
"But exactly the day after the cardinal died this (Article 23) consultation paper came out. When I read the consultation document I was simply frightened. I said 'Incredible, this is very dangerous legislation'."
"So I said I'm sorry I promised to be less outspoken but I can't really, I cannot keep quiet."
But he said his high-profile has forced him to be careful. When some 500,000 marchers protested against the legislation on July 1, Zen was not among them. He had led a prayer service at Victoria Park ahead of the event but did not march "because my presence would cause some disorder".
Instead he went to a nearby church and prayed for more than five hours for the march to succeed.
The massive turnout for the protest prompted the government to first make concessions to the proposed law before shelving it. Since then Security Secretary Regina Ip, one of the guiding forces behind its drafting, has resigned.
Zen said the Article 23 legislation, which the Hong Kong government is obliged to pass under the territory's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, should never have been drafted.
"This legislation obviously is the fruit of the Tiananmen Square incident," he said of Beijing's ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 1989.
Zen also believes that five years after Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997, the Chinese should not have insisted on anti-subversion legislation being passed at all.
"I think after five years they could be convinced there was no danger of subversion in Hong Kong. They (the Hong Kong government) could have kept quiet and let things go but they said 'no, we must legislate'.
"I really don't know exactly if this decision comes from Beijing or if it's the decision of the Hong Kong government.
"But if it is the decision of Hong Kong people then they are really stupid. Because they must know that such legislation is not easy."
What particularly angered Zen was that the government failed to take a "minimalist attitude" in drafting the bill banning treason, subversion and sedition.
"They are doing the opposite. They are making the maximum of that law so everybody can commit such crimes," he said.
Zen also accused the government of trying to pass the bill while people were distracted by other problems -- record unemployment, the fallout from the disastrous SARS outbreak and a faltering economy.
"It made us angry because instead of using those occasions to unite everybody they used that to push Article 23. The government has done nothing to unite the people."
Zen remains worried that the Hong Kong government is willing to toe the Beijing line as the Catholic Church comes under increasing pressure on the mainland.
"The situation in China is very bad. There is persecution. There is no real freedom. But the saddest thing is that now the government is persecuting not only the underground church but also the official church. Now surely they don't put the bishops in prison but they have ways to punish them."
Zen says one bishop has been refused assistance for his seminary for years.
But does Zen want Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to resign?
"We never call anybody down, the Catholics. Even during the protests against Tiananmen Square we didn't shout down with Li Peng or whatever, even then. So we would never ask Mr Tung to step down," he said, adding that he respects the resignation of Ip.
Meanwhile, he thinks there is hope for full democracy in Hong Kong.
"I think with the new leaders there is hope. They must know that we are moderate, that we love our country there are so many intelligent people among those who ask for democracy."