Seeking to ease rising political tensions, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
Tung called the session "useful" and said he looks forward to "more communication and less dispute" with the pro-democracy lawmakers. But Tung declined to take questions from reporters.
PHOTO:AFP
Lawmakers who met with Tung in his office said he had refused to give them any timetable for starting discussions on political reforms. They attacked his decision a day earlier to send a recommendation to Beijing on the matter without reflecting the will of the Hong Kong public.
"The spirit of this meeting was polite but unhappy," said Yeung Sum (
"He himself is an obstacle to full democracy," said lawmaker Frederick Fung (
Tung angered many in Hong Kong on Thursday by sending a report to Beijing that suggested the territory's electoral systems should be reformed in time for the leadership election in 2007 that will choose his successor, as well as the 2008 Legislative Council elections.
Critics say he acted hastily and without consulting the public -- just days after Beijing asserted control over any political reforms here by saying it must approve any changes in advance.
Tung recommended nine guidelines for political reforms that his opponents claim have effectively killed any hopes of full democracy in the near term.
Yeung said the pro-democracy lawmakers "can't accept" the way Tung handled the matter. They urged him to send Beijing a supplementary report that would outline the public's democratic aspirations, but he refused.
Tung's proposal on Thursday contained no specifics for change, but he said there was no point in going into any details unless the Chinese government agrees it will be possible to modify Hong Kong's electoral methods.
The English-language daily The Standard said: "Tung roadblocks blunt vote hopes." However, Bei jing's allies defended Tung.
The pro-China daily Ta Kung Pao said that by taking an initiative within days of Beijing's ruling, Tung had shown he was "handling the issue on political reform with an active attitude, with no delay."
The Wen Wei Po daily lashed out at pro-democracy politicians, saying their pleas for more consultation were a delaying tactic to help them "fish in troubled waters and gain votes in the September elections."
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS