A coalition of pro-democracy politicians and activists took out a full-page advertisement in a Hong Kong newspaper yesterday demanding that deeply unpopular Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
"Mr. Tung, the wish of Hong Kong people ... is that you resign, resign, resign ... all your policies ... have ended in disasters," said the strongly worded advertisement by the Anti-Tung Solidarity movement in the independent Apple Daily.
"For a person so unpopular, hasty and stupid like yourself to remain in this position is the biggest reason for Hong Kong's instability," the group said.
The group was formed shortly after more than half a million people took to the streets on July 1 to protest against Tung's leadership and to demand more democracy in the former British colony, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
The massive demonstration of people power sparked the worst political crisis in Hong Kong in years, split the territory's ruling elite and rattled leaders in Beijing.
Tung, whom Beijing hand-picked to run Hong Kong, is widely blamed in the city for a string of policy blunders, years of economic malaise and stubbornly high unemployment.
Veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Emily Lau (劉慧卿) is to move a motion in the legislature tomorrow to call for Tung's resignation.
Although the non-binding motion is likely to be voted down by the pro-government majority in the chamber, Lau said it reflected people's wishes.
"He has done nothing to show he is going to improve his governance. On political reforms there is no response," Lau said.
Tung's popularity ratings appear to have improved in recent weeks as the economy shows signs of reviving, fuelled in large part by Beijing. Since the big July protest, China has announced a series of moves aimed at propping up the ailing economy and appeasing public unrest.
But Tung's evasiveness over demands for more democracy continues to annoy many people in the territory. He also faces mounting pressure for a renewed probe into the SARS epidemic, which killed about 300 people in the territory and battered its tourism industry.
An expert panel commissioned by the government said last week that there had been serious shortcomings in its handling of the outbreak but did not single anyone out for blame. Many doctors fear the virus will re-emerge this winter and believe the government is ill-prepared.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS