Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) yesterday warned against fresh democracy protests ahead of the next step in the territory’s contentious political reform process, saying the authorities would not bow to “coercive action.”
The government is to launch a second round of public consultation today on the process for electing Hong Kong’s next chief executive.
China has pledged Hong Kong will be able to choose its own leader for the first time in 2017, but it has ruled that candidates must be screened by a loyalist committee — a decision that sparked more than two months of pro-democracy rallies.
The new consultation will be the first official reform exercise since the authorities cleared the main pro-democracy protest camps last month.
However, campaigners are pessimistic that any meaningful proposals will be on the table.
Leung reiterated the government’s position yesterday and said any voting system would stick to the framework laid down by China.
“If we really want to implement universal suffrage on 2017, we ... should not do anything that threatens the Hong Kong government or the Central Government,” Leung told reporters.
He said that the process must stick to the territory’s constitution and that “coercive actions that are illegal or disrupt social order” would not change anything.
The public should take a “legal, rational and pragmatic” approach in expressing opinions, Leung added.
However, pro-democracy Hong Kong Legislator Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) said the consultation would be “a large-scale propaganda exercise.”
“Those coming from the democratic camp will be able to enter [as candidates], but they will never be able to be selected for election,” he said.
“The government will try to create an impression that we have a lot of room to discuss how candidates of different persuasions can enter the race, but the nominating committee will still do the gatekeeping,” political analyst Ma Ngok (馬嶽) said.
At their height, the pro-democracy rallies saw tens of thousands take to the streets demanding fully free elections, but authorities in both Hong Kong and Beijing consistently branded the protests “illegal.”
The protests failed to change the Beijing decision in August last year that required all leadership candidates to be vetted.
That decision was made after the Hong Kong government sent a report to Beijing following the first round of consultation — heavily criticized by democracy campaigners, who said it failed to reflect public sentiment.
The new round of consultation is expected to put forward specific proposals on mechanisms to select candidates.
Leung said it would be “less broad,” without giving any details.
It comes as the Hong Kong government continues to clamp down on activists.
On Monday, the Hong Kong Department of Justice put forward court applications to formally charge 20 activists for obstructing bailiffs clearing the protest camp in Mongkok district in November last year.
Dozens of other protest leaders, including founder of the Occupy movement Benny Tai (戴耀廷) and student leader Alex Chow (周永康), have been requested to turn themselves in to police, according to local media.
The government is due to send an official report on the democracy movement to Beijing as soon as yesterday.
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
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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