Hong Kong possesses mature conditions for implementing universal suffrage and China should respond to the voices of the majority of Hong Kongers, who have called for full democracy before 2012, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
The third selection of Hong Kong's chief executive is going to be held on Sunday.
An 800-member election committee will vote on the new leader on behalf of the 7 million Hong Kongers. Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
This is the first time that a pro-democracy candidate has been able to compete with a China-backed candidate since the handover in 1997.
The council's consulting committee yesterday held a conference on Hong Kong and cross-strait development, and Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Director Tsai Jy-jon (
"Although the selection of Hong Kong's chief executive has the form of competition, it is still a selection within a `small circle' and `birdcage democracy.' It cannot break the political structure that China has imposed on Hong Kong," Tsai said.
China is worried that universal suffrage would increase Hong Kong's autonomy and decrease identification with China. Beijing claims open democracy would affect social stability and economic development, and has postponed its pledge to implement universal suffrage.
"In fact, Hong Kong's society is stable, its economy is prosperous and it has sophisticated legal systems. Hong Kong is totally qualified for implementing full democracy," Tsai said. "China simply ignores Hong Kong's conditions."
Tsai said that about 70 percent of Hong Kong's people have said they want to directly elect their leader before 2012, and the audiences for the two televised debates between Tsang and Leong were unprecedented.
"It shows the resolution of the people of Hong Kong to pursue democracy in spite of China's repression," Tsai said.
The committee said that the government should invite political experts and officials from Hong Kong to observe Taiwan's elections, and hold conferences on economics and press freedom in cooperation with Hong Kong.
According to a poll conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 66.3 percent of respondents said they thought Leong's participation in the election would have a positive influence on the development of Hong Kong's democracy. Only 7.6 percent said it would have a negative impact.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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