The number of Hong Kong people who believe they will have free elections by 2007 has fallen sharply after a war of words over whether the territory is ready for democracy, according to a survey published yesterday.
Only 19 percent of people interviewed said they believed there would be universal suffrage for the position of chief executive by 2007 and for all legislators by 2008, compared to 28 percent and 39 percent respectively in an identical poll late last year.
The percentage of people supporting free elections has also fallen with just over 60 percent of interviewees supporting them compared to three out of four last year, the University of Hong Kong survey found.
The rising tide of pessimism follows months of ferocious debate over political reform in Hong Kong after 500,000 people took part in an anti-government march last July and 100,000 more demanded a timetable for democracy on Jan. 1.
Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, allows for free elections beginning in 2007 but does not specify a timetable.
Currently, the chief executive is chosen by a pro-Beijing election committee and only a minority of legislators is directly elected.
Beijing has now made it clear it does not believe Hong Kong is ready for democracy as early as 2007 and branded pro-democracy legislator Martin Lee a traitor for giving evidence on the debate to a US Senate committee in Washington earlier this month.
The university poll, published in yesterday's South China Morning Post, included interviews with over 1,000 people. It is the eighth monthly poll in a series that began last July when 43 percent of Hong Kong people expected to see direct legislative elections by 2008.
Poll organizer Robert Chung told the newspaper that most people still supported universal suffrage, but added: "In spite of such strong support, very few people actually expect such demands to materialize."
Pro-democracy campaigners are planning another mass demonstration in Hong Kong on July 1, the anniversary of the march which drew 500,000, at which they expect up to 1 million to protest.
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