The US government voiced support for hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong protesters who marched for democracy, despite Beijing's objections that such remarks amount to meddling in its internal affairs.
"We respect the Hong Kong people's right to express their commitment to democracy and political reform peacefully," US Consulate General spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said on Thursday night after a massive demonstration to demand the territory's people be allowed to select their leaders.
"As we have said many times, it is up to the Hong Kong people and the government of Hong Kong to determine the pace and scope of democratization," Stevenson said in response to a query from reporters.
When the UK returned Hong Kong to China in July 1997, the territory was guaranteed a "high degree" of local autonomy. Critics charge that China violated that deal when it ruled in April that Hong Kong people cannot directly choose their next leader in 2007 or all lawmakers in 2008.
"The long-standing policy of the United States has been to support Hong Kong's move toward electoral reform and universal suffrage as provided for in the Basic Law," Stevenson said. "We believe that continued progress is essential for Hong Kong's success, prosperity and stability."
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
A Sherpa guide was found crawling to base camp on Mount Everest a week after he went missing and was reunited with his family, who had given up hope he would return. Dawa Sherpa was last seen on Friday last week descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled. Dawa was located by a cleaning crew on Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above
Chinese authorities are snuffing out any remembrance of the deadly 1989 military crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, which happened 37 years ago yesterday, in a further tightening of a years-long campaign to erase what happened from public memory. Police told relatives of the victims they would not be allowed to visit a cemetery in Beijing on the anniversary of the crackdown, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Relatives of the victims visited the cemetery on the anniversary for more than 30 years to read memorial statements with police keeping watch, Amnesty International said. Hundreds of people,
RSS