A top opposition lawmaker was trapped in Hong Kong's airport yesterday for nearly half an hour as his supporters and pro-Beijing protesters shouted at each other when he returned from a US trip during which he discussed the territory's fight for full democracy, police said.
Martin Lee Chu-ming (
Lee's supporters greeted him with a banner that read "Patriotic hero for democracy," and began yelling back at his deriders.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The verbal sparring among the crowd of about 100 hemmed Lee in for nearly 30 minutes at the airport, police spokesman T.K. Ng said. He was eventually led out by a police escort.
The pro-democracy lawmaker headed a delegation to Washington this week to brief US administration officials and senators on Hong Kong's battle for democratic reform. He met with US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
The visit drew strong protests from Beijing officials. Some called Lee "a clown" and accused Hong Kong politicians of inviting foreign meddling in China's affairs.
Lee said the visit was only meant to communicate Hong Kong's situation to US officials, adding he will continue to do what he thinks is right for the former British colony, returned to China in 1997.
"Many officials' criticisms went too far and were improper," Lee said.
"Looking at what the central government leaders said in the past two days, they didn't say Hong Kong cannot have democracy," he said.
Many Hong Kongers are demanding the right to pick their leader and all lawmakers.
Hong Kong's political leader was elected by an 800-member elite committee loyal to Beijing, and ordinary citizens were allowed to choose only 24 out of 60 lawmakers in the 2000 elections -- though that number will rise to 30 in the next contest in September.
Full democracy is set out as a constitutional goal in Hong Kong, but there is no timetable.
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