Outspoken democrat Anson Chan (
But analysts warned that while Chan -- a former No. 2 in the government during both British and Chinese rule -- was an expert in administration, she would need to hone her political skills to gain allies and influence Beijing.
Chan, 67, dubbed "Hong Kong's conscience" for championing civil liberties, swept past her closest rival, former security chief Regina Ip (
PHOTO: AFP
Ip, who was backed by Beijing-allied parties but remembered for attempting to push through a deeply unpopular anti-subversion bill, shocked many by taking 43 percent of the votes.
The race was one of the most closely watched and fiercely battled elections since the territory was returned to China a decade ago, as both camps tried to turn it into a referendum on the pace of democratic reform.
"The result of this election indicates that Hong Kong people are anxious to put forward democracy. We think we're all ready to implement universal suffrage in 2012," the date of the next election for the territory's leader, Chan said in her victory speech early yesterday, before popping the cork on a bottle of champagne.
Analysts said that the win was a much-needed fillip for the pro-democracy camp who lost heavily in last month's district elections to the Beijing-friendly conservatives. But some warned Chan against taking too hard a line against Beijing in her push to hold the central government accountable.
"Right now, Beijing views Anson Chan with suspicion. It doesn't know her political motives," said James Sung (宋立功), a political academic at City University.
"When she was not in government, she could criticize Beijing's role in Hong Kong affairs as it didn't matter ... But now she's moved one step forward into government, into the political area, and that's what worries them," he said.
"Her first task will be gaining Beijing's trust and to do that she needs to tone down the fighting spirit that got her elected," he said.
Beijing has not commented on Chan's victory.
Chan was the first woman and the first ethnic Chinese to rise to chief secretary for administration, the No. 2 government post, under British rule. She continued in the post when the territory was handed back to China in 1997, but stepped down in 2001.
Chan's victory did allay some fears that political reform had fallen off the agenda amid an economic upswing in the territory.
"I think it shows that a lot of middle class people in Hong Kong still care about democracy, even though the economy is getting better, the stock market is rising, and the economy is more dependent on China," said Ma Ngok (
"This is something that Beijing needs to think about," Ma said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS