The price of fame for high-profile China activist

Chan discovered the price she has to pay as one of Hong Kong's most high-profile young activists as she brushed her teeth one morning.

HONG KONG, February 24, 2010 (AFP) - Christina Chan discovered the price she has to pay as one of Hong Kong's most high-profile young activists when she was brushing her teeth in her T-shirt and thong at home one morning.

Hidden behind her neighbour's windows was a paparazzo, who had followed her all the way to Cheung Chau, a tiny, tranquil island an hour by ferry from the city centre.

The next thing she knew, photos of her in her skimpy morning outfit were splashed across the front page of a tabloid.

"It is unbearable to be in the spotlight all the time," the 22-year-old told AFP.

"Now whenever I come out of the shower I think that someone might be watching me."

Chan, who is majoring in philosophy at the University of Hong Kong after attending boarding school in England, was thrown into the limelight when she protested for Tibetan independence at the Olympics torch relay through Hong Kong in 2008.

Images of the petite part-time model waving a giant Tibetan snow lion flag and being carted away in a police van were soon published all over the Internet and newspapers.

Chan has become a regular guest on talk shows, university forums, and mass rallies, speaking on democratic reform in Hong Kong, a former British colony which was returned to China in 1997.

She is portrayed as the face of the so-called "Post 80s" movement, a label given to a rising group of activists born after 1980 who campaign for a transparent and accountable political system.

But to her dismay, the focus of the media has gradually shifted from her campaign to her physical appearance, dress sense, and relationship with her Australian musician boyfriend. She has also described herself as a victim of cyber-bullying.

Getting a criminal record could be another price the university student will have to pay for her political fame: Chan was arrested over an alleged assault of a policewoman following a scuffle at a New Year's Day pro-democracy protest. She has been released on bail.

"They may charge me next time I report back to the police," she said. "I don't want to go to jail. But we can't just stop doing everything because of that."

Growing up, Chan had often regarded "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung as her role model. Leung, a maverick activist-cum-lawmaker has been arrested many times for his political stunts, including burning the Chinese national flag and clashing with police.

"He's one of the most outspoken, liberal people inside the Legislative Council. He even changed people's view of what a legislator should look like."

But Chan considers herself different from Leung as she is free of the political baggage imposed on an elected lawmaker.

Despite her Westernised outlook and her complaint of the lack of room for imagination and individuality in Hong Kong, she says she feels a strong sense of belonging to the city.

"I feel a really strong Hong Kong identity. I don't feel British at all."

Chan has become one of the latest entries to a growing list of Hong Kong activists who are banned from entering Macau, a former Portuguese enclave that was returned to Chinese rule in 1999.

And she said her friends had warned her not to travel to the mainland, as she "probably can't get out."

"I love the mainland. It's a shame I can't go back," she said.

She considers herself patriotic, saying she felt strongly every time a Chinese dissident was jailed by the authorities.

"But I really think any patriot should hate this Communist Party because it has brought so much suffering to the people in the mainland."