Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) urged Hong Kong's leader to reach out to the people yesterday after the territory's main pro-Beijing party suffered an election drubbing that threw it into disarray.
But Hu also praised Tung Chee-hwa's (
Hu, meeting Tung in Beijing, said he "hoped the Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] government will continue to strengthen its contacts with all levels of society, stick close to the people, understand the people's feelings, collect wisdom from the masses and unceasingly improve the level of public service," China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Their discussions came a day after the chairman for the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong resigned after the party's severe defeat in late November polls.
The DAB's role as cheerleader for the government's unpopular policies contributed to its electoral rout. Some members now want the party to distance itself from Tung's administration.
The fall-out dealt another blow to the already shaky position of Tung's government. He was appointed by Beijing to run the former British colony, which returned to China in 1997.
Hong Kong was racked by the biggest protests since 1989 in July when 500,000 people hit the streets in a show of "people power" to decry a controversial security bill and demand more democracy.
The protests forced Tung to seek -- and win -- a fresh endorsement from Beijing two weeks later.
This time around Hu -- who has established himself by championing the people since in his first year at the helm of the Communist Party -- "fully affirmed" Tung's work, Xinhua said.
After hearing Tung report on his government's recent "self-examination," Hu expressed faith in the viability of the "one country, two systems" formula under which Beijing promised the territory a high degree of autonomy.
"Our principle and position are clear that the political system of the Hong Kong SAR must adhere to Hong Kong's Basic Law, set out from the realities of Hong Kong and develop gradually. We believe Hong Kong's society can reach consensus on this," Hu was quoted as saying.
There have been some calls for Tung's resignation following the July protests, but China views Hong Kong's economic woes as the driving force behind the protests, and was likely to continue supporting the unpopular leader, analysts said.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS