Hong Kong voters turned on the main pro-Beijing party in local elections, giving a sharp rebuke to an unpopular government and a major boost to the pro-democracy camp, results showed yesterday.
The district council elections on Sunday were the first opportunity to measure popular support for democracy since massive public protests rocked Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's (
PHOTO: REUTERS
However, few analysts predicted the rout inflicted on the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), which supported a controversial security bill that brought half a million people onto the streets in protest.
Democratic Party Chairman Yeung Sum said the results and the record turnout of just under 45 percent sent "a clear message to Tung Chee-hwa and the Chinese government that the public wants full democracy."
He called for full universal suffrage to elect the next chief executive in 2007 and the Legislative Council in 2008.
The territory's 18 district councils have very few powers and small budgets, and mostly advise on local issues such as traffic problems. The polls usually evoke little interest, but in the aftermath of the July protests campaigning was vibrant and turnout was up 30 percent on four years ago.
The result set the stage for elections to the more powerful Legislative Council next year, with analysts saying government control of the legislature could be weakened even though only half the seats are elected.
The Democratic Party claimed 93 seats -- compared to 86 seats in 1999 -- while the DAB won just 64 seats compared to 83 in the last elections. A total of 400 seats were elected, but only 326 were contested.
Pro-democracy groups have stepped up pressure on Tung to start consultations for constitutional reforms toward the goal of full democracy, which is stated under the Basic Law -- the territory's mini-constitution since the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
However, the Basic Law does not lay out a timetable for achieving full democracy. Tung is currently hand-picked by an 800-member committee.
Fears a proposed security bill would erode fundamental freedoms guaranteed for 50 years under the Basic Law led 500,000 people to march against the bill and caused its withdrawal.
Defeated DAB Chairman Tsang Yok-shing offered to resign, saying his party had suffered from fostering close ties with the government. The party is to meet next week to discuss the results and Tsang's future.
"A serious defeat reflects shortcomings and so it is only right for me to step down," Tsang said.
Tsang said he had also informed Tung of his decision to resign from the Executive Council -- Tung's Cabinet.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS