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.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed