Nearly 60,000 people took to the streets of Hong Kong yesterday in a pro-democracy march on the ninth anniversary of the territory's return to Chinese rule, according to march organizers.
Roads were closed for the colorful annual event as a huge crowd holding aloft banners demanding universal suffrage snaked its way across the city center to central government offices.
Police, who usually underestimate turnouts for pro-democracy events, said 19,000 set out on the march but organizers said a total of 58,000 people took part.
PHOTO: AFP
The turnout was clearly greater than the 20,000 to 30,000 who took part last year but a long way short of the 500,000 who attended the first of the July 1 marches in 2003 and 2004.
A rival march organized by pro-China groups yesterday morning also attracted a large turnout with organizers estimating that 50,000 participated, while police put the figure at 40,000.
The pro-democracy march was given added momentum by the presence of former deputy leader Anson Chan (陳方安生), who has been issuing public appeals since last weekend for people to attend.
Chan said the people of Hong Kong are hungry for democracy and Tsang has not done enough to fight for it.
Speaking at the start of yesterday's march, she called on the government to map out a plan of action for democracy, dismissing the idea that people were more interested in prosperity than universal suffrage.
"I am glad the economy has fully recovered and people are obviously feeling very good," Chan said. "But the fact that the economy is now on a strong path doesn't mean that the voice and aspiration for universal suffrage and for democracy is any less.
"I think the two coexist very well. I would say that without democracy, one cannot really have sustained economic growth," she said.
The event celebrating the return to Chinese rule was organized by a coalition of pro-China groups. Crowds watched a show featuring performances by People's Liberation Army troops and pop stars at the Hong Kong Stadium before walking through the city center.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique