Chinese President Hu Jintao (
After stepping off the plane onto a rain-soaked tarmac, Hu walked past a line of flag-waving children and told reporters he was happy with Hong Kong's progress in the last decade.
"I'm even more confident about Hong Kong's future," he added in a brief speech.
Security was tight for Hu's three-day trip, and a wall of police blocked a group of about 20 pro-democracy protesters from marching to Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang's (曾蔭權) residence, where Hu was to have dinner.
As they walked through an area downtown, the demonstrators chanted, "Give power to the people!" and carried pictures of Hu with an X over his face. They also held up a banner that said, "China needs democracy and Hong Kong needs universal suffrage."
Protest leader Leung Kwok-hung (
"If he doesn't want to face Hong Kong people, why did he come here?" he said of Hu.
Hu's itinerary includes banquets, a visit to a new panda exhibit, a variety show and Sunday's hand-over ceremony.
Hong Kong was handed back to China on July 1, 1997, after being ruled by the British for 156 years. The deal gave the city a wide degree of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" formula.
An annual pro-democracy street protest was to be held Sunday after the handover ceremony. Hu was scheduled to leave just before the march.
The Chinese leader didn't mention political reforms during his red carpet welcome at the airport.
Hu commended Hong Kong for weathering an often-turbulent first decade under Chinese rule. Hong Kong's government "has unified and led all the Hong Kong people in overcoming all types of difficulties and risks," he said.
Later yesterday, the Chinese president played pingpong with a boy at a training center for elite athletes before meeting Hong Kong leader Tsang at a hotel reception room.
After Hu praised the city's economy again, Tsang agreed the territory was prospering and "Hong Kong people have been smiling a lot."
Tsang, a veteran civil servant in the British colonial government, sat up straight in his chair holding his speaking notes in his lap.
He spoke in heavily accented Mandarin, although he is more fluent in English and his native Cantonese.
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