Hong Kong yesterday held by-elections triggered by pro-democracy lawmakers seeking to pressure Beijing into speeding up the pace of electoral reform in the territory.
The elections, which angered Beijing and divided the territory’s democracy movement, were triggered when five lawmakers from the Legislative Council quit in January in a bid to force a de facto referendum on reform.
Frustrated by what they say is China’s intransigence, the lawmakers had hoped that the move — which will likely see them all re-elected — would send a clear message to China.
However, the outcome of the vote is seen as academic since all pro-Beijing political parties have boycotted the process.
Under the current electoral system, only half of Hong Kong’s 60-seat legislature is directly elected, while the rest is selected by the pro-China business elite. Campaigners want the entire parliament to be directly elected.
They also want voters to be able to choose the territory’s chief executive, who is appointed by a Beijing-friendly election committee.
China has said that Hong Kong’s chief executive could be directly elected by 2017 and the legislature in 2020 at the earliest.
Chinese officials have openly denounced the “referendum,” calling it a “blatant challenge” to Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the mini-Constitution that guarantees certain civil liberties for citizens of the former British colony.
Democracy figurehead Martin Lee (李柱銘) condemned a decision by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) not to cast a ballot.
“This is absolutely ridiculous ... It is a total act of kowtowing to Beijing. This is the problem — Tsang is not elected by the people,” the founder of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party said yesterday.
Tsang said his decision was “purely personal.”
“In view of the unique nature of this by-election and after careful consideration, I have decided not to vote ... All members of my political team share this view and, of their own accord, have also decided not to vote,” he said in a statement.
In response, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄), one of the five who resigned his seat, protested outside Tsang’s residence.
At press time, about 533,000, or 15.8 percent, of Hong Kong’s 3.4 million registered voters had cast a ballot, the Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS