Hong Kong legislators typically reviled in Beijing have stuck by their pro-democracy views ahead of a rare tour of China starting today, as the pro-China media expressed hope that the trip would soften their impression of their home country.
Hong Kong lawmakers -- including some who were previously banned in the mainland -- are gearing up for an official trip to Guangzhou, viewed as a goodwill gesture from China.
But opposition figures reiterated the pro-democracy positions that first ran them afoul of Beijing ahead of the trip. The Democratic Party, whose former chairman Martin Lee (李柱銘) has been branded a "traitor" by Beijing, wrote to Guangdong Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang (
The party demanded direct elections for all political offices in Hong Kong by 2008. The territory's leader is picked by an 800-member committee and only half of the city's 60 legislators are elected. The rest are picked by interest groups.
The party also asked China to reverse its condemnation of pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, which the Chinese military crushed that June, killing hundreds.
But pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po said in an editorial yesterday it hoped witnessing China's progress will change the lawmakers' "prejudices."
All eyes are on whether radical legislator "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄), a veteran street protester, will demonstrate in front of Chinese officials. Leung wasn't immediately available for comment. His office said yesterday he was due to return to Hong Kong from abroad later in the day.
Democratic Party Chairman Lee Wing-tat (李永達) yesterday praised the invitation to visit China as a positive step but said he held modest expectations because of a crammed schedule.
While the legislators are scheduled to meet with Guangdong officials and dine with them, the two-day itinerary is dominated by sightseeing and company visits. The lawmakers are scheduled to hit three cities in one day: Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou.
"There won't be a lot of substantial results from two days, one night of visits. It's so rushed. But I hope afterward everyone will feel this communication is meaningful and continue it," Lee said.
Legislator Emily Lau (劉慧卿), who hasn't been able to renew her China travel document since the mid-1990s, complained that the banned lawmakers apparently were only getting one-time clearance to visit China.
In another issue clouding the trip, Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper hasn't been able to obtain permission to cover the lawmaker tour. The Hong Kong government said it had no immediate comment.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
South Korea would soon no longer be one of the few countries where Google Maps does not work properly, after its security-conscious government reversed a two-decade stance to approve the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers. The approval was made “on the condition that strict security requirements are met,” the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. Those conditions include blurring military and other sensitive security-related facilities, as well as restricting longitude and latitude coordinates for South Korean territory on products such as Google Maps and Google Earth, it said. The decision is expected to hurt Naver and Kakao
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
RSS