Hong Kong's main pro-democracy party yesterday accused the Beijing government of using scare tactics to dissuade voters from electing democrats to the legislature in September.
The Democratic Party said weekend accusations by a leading Chinese political theorist that top democrats were considered "unpatriotic" and unfit to rule were part of a concerted effort to frighten off voters.
"We are not surprised by these kinds of tactics," said Democratic Party campaign chief and former legislator Li Wah-ming (
"They are using scare tactics to keep Hong Kong people from voting for democrats in the September election," Li said.
The government announced over the weekend that Legislative Council elections would be held on Sunday, Sept. 12.
Voters will elect 60 members -- half drawn from geographical constituencies and the rest from so-called functional constituencies, voted by members of different trades and industries.
The news was followed by a diatribe released through China's official Xinhua news agency by Xu Chongde (
Fanning the flames of an argument that has raged for weeks over the introduction of full democracy to the territory, Xu said that hardline opposition group The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Democratic Movement in China was not patriotic.
Patriotism is the criteria Bei-jing has said should be used for deciding who was suitable to rule the city.
Xu also said some legislators in the territory used "democracy as a tool to fool the public," a phrase many pundits say is a veiled reference to former Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee (
(
Li said the outburst showed Beijing was scared and realized it had a lot to loose if democrats did well in the September polls.
"If democrats win a majority in the Legislative Council elections, it will be very awkward for the Chinese government," Li said.
"There will be democrats running major departments and a democrat will be the council's president. That position has a seat in the Chinese parliament -- it could cause a lot of upsets for the Chinese leadership," Li said.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS