Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
Tsang, who took over the leadership last year, is expected to seek re-election in March when his current term ends. He is widely believed to be saving any bold initiatives for his campaign.
Tsang stressed pragmatism and improving people's livelihoods in his speech.
PHOTO: AFP
"The success of Hong Kong can be found in our pragmatism -- we did not engage in ideological debates or utopian social projects," he said, apparently referring to clamoring calls for the swift introduction of universal suffrage.
The Hong Kong and Beijing governments are determined to bring full democracy to the territory eventually in a gradual manner, he said. He did not provide more details.
Since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997, its leader has been selected by an 800-member committee, stacked with pro-Beijing figures.
Tsang was met with loud protests before he began his speech.
"Hong Kong's government is shameless," shouted lawmaker and pro-democracy activist Albert Chan (
Chan and maverick lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (
The two were quickly kicked out of the Legislative Council.
Tsang's speech was later interrupted by several angry protesters in the council's public gallery demanding laws that ensure a minimum wage.
He proposed more solid measures to tackle the worsening smog problem in the region. Tighter controls for emissions from electricity plants are needed, he said. Owners of older vehicles are encouraged to switch to cleaner fuels with a proposed HK$3.2 billion (US$411 million) incentive plan.
He also touched on economic measures, such as letting more foreign businesses list in Hong Kong.
‘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