Pro-democracy lawmakers appear ready to veto a government plan for political reforms today because they say the changes don't go far enough.
Their opposition came despite the government's offer of last-minute concessions by cutting the number of appointed city councilors who will serve on a panel that picks the territory's leader.
Pro-democracy lawmakers blasted the Beijing-backed proposal for failing to address popular demands for a timetable for universal suffrage. They denounced the minor concession as mere "window-dressing."
"Without a timetable, we won't support the package," said Lee Wing-tat (
Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
The opposition camp holds 25 seats in the legislature dominated by pro-Beijing and pro-government figures. The government is struggling to persuade at least six pro-democracy lawmakers to vote for the proposal, but many said yesterday that they will reject it.
"The proposal is unacceptable as it is," said opposition Legislator Albert Cheng (
In its original reform package, the Hong Kong government had proposed doubling the size of the 800-member panel charged with selecting the territory's leader and adding 10 seats to the legislature.
The plan would add 529 city councilors to the leader selection panel and five seats for district councilors in the legislature.
But tens of thousands of people marched two weeks ago to demand full democracy, prompting Tsang to say he'd make some changes to the proposal.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in