Hong Kong passed an electoral reform package yesterday, winning over enough skeptical opposition lawmakers to back changes that could pave the way for universal suffrage in 2017 as promised by Beijing.
It was the first time Hong Kong’s legislature had passed major reforms to electoral arrangements since Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997. A previous attempt in 2005 was voted down by opposition democrats.
“This lays down a milestone in Hong Kong’s democratic development,” said Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), who called the deal a “historic moment.”
“Disputes and infighting over political reform have plagued our society for the past two decades ... it’s now clear that consensus and reform are possible,” Tsang told reporters.
The package caused a major rift among pro-democracy lawmakers, some of whom say it does not go far enough toward universal suffrage and deflates their demand for full-scale reform.
“This is the darkest day in Hong Kong’s democratic development,” yelled radical pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Chan (陳偉業), before storming out of the legislature.
Chan was one of 12 pro-democracy lawmakers voting against the package.
Since 1997, the struggle for full democracy has been a central and divisive theme in local politics, pitting liberal advocates and democrats against Beijing’s Communist leaders, but the new deal — that sharply divided various pro-democracy factions — could usher in a new era of warmer ties between moderate democrats and Beijing, analysts said.
“The passage of the reform proposal is the first time that the democrats have reached any kind of political agreement with Beijing,” said Ma Ngok (馬嶽), a political scientist at Hong Kong’s Chinese University. “It’s a historic compromise and this can serve as a ... starting point or rapport between the two sides.”
After a marathon debate in the local 60-seat legislature stretching over three days, 46 lawmakers, including most members of Hong Kong’s main opposition Democratic Party, cast a final vote in support of the package which required a two-thirds majority.
The chairman of the Democratic Party, Albert Ho (何俊仁), denied his party had sold out and said negotiations with Beijing officials that helped broker this compromise deal would continue.
“We hope more members of different democratic groupings can take part” in future talks with Chinese officials, Ho said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)