Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
The move was seen by analysts, however, as a bid by Beijing to shore up the flagging fortunes of the gaffe-prone leader in his last two years at the helm of the former British colony.
Tung, selected to lead Hong Kong when control of the city switched from London to Beijing in 1997, is among 10 local nominees to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a talk shop that advises the national leadership, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said.
Source said he was also being groomed to fill a vacancy in the body's group of vice chairmen, a position that confers state leadership and membership of the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party, it said.
The list will be presented for approval to the full CPPCC when it meets in Beijing for its annual session on Thursday.
His proposed appointment has sparked media speculation that he will step down early, following two years of political crises, or take a reduced role in the final years of his administration.
Analysts like Joseph Cheng (
"This is not a sidelining exercise," Cheng, a professor of politics at Hong Kong City University, told reporters.
"There is a vacancy in the body of vice chairmen, a very prestigious body. I think they want to give him greater status in recognition of the fact that he is Hong Kong's first-ever second-term chief executive," Cheng said.
Tung, who was a leading member of the Hong Kong Cabinet under British rule, was selected as chief executive of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese enclave in 1997.
Calls for his resignation have grown since a political row over governance of the city exploded in 2003 following a huge street protest by half a million pro-democracy activists demanding citizens have the right to elect their leaders.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
RSS