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.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS