Thousands marched through Hong Kong yesterday, calling for the right to elect their government by 2012 -- a date leaders in Beijing have ruled out.
The march, joined by religious, political and civil leaders, was the latest in a series of protests by residents angry that they will have to wait at least another decade before they can choose their own leader and legislators.
"We are ready now," shouted hundreds of people at Victoria Park, where they gathered waving flags, singing songs and chanting prayers before setting off on the march. Police put the number of people leaving the park at 6,800.
PHOTO: AFP
Organizers said about 20,000 people joined the march.
Li Luk-yan, 45, and his wife, Irene Siu, were in the crowd with their two young sons.
"At some point, we'll have to pass the baton to them. They need to understand what democracy means and why we need to keep fighting," Li, a publishing executive, said.
Beijing announced last month that its semiautonomous region could elect its own leader in 2017 and all of its legislators sometime after that, possibly 2020 at the earliest.
The announcement came as a bitter blow to the territory, where most had hoped for 2012. Many are also doubtful that Beijing will deliver on that pledge.
Hong Kong has a vast amount of financial and personal liberties, including the right to hold protests and criticize the government -- freedoms not allowed elsewhere in China.
Still, residents are unhappy that they cannot have a greater say in who runs their government.
Hong Kong's leader is currently chosen by an 800-member committee dominated by Beijing loyalists, including many of the city's influential tycoons. Only half of the territory's 60 lawmakers are elected, with the rest are picked by special interest groups.
"If Hong Kong's leader is elected by the people, he has to be accountable to the people, not to the business community as he is now," Li said.
Beijing has consistently ruled out allowing the booming financial center of 6.9 million people to directly elect its representatives, arguing that the territory is not yet politically mature enough to do so.
Many of Hong Kong's activists and lawmakers have been outspoken critics of human rights violations in China. Some, like the founder of the main opposition Democratic Party, Martin Lee (
A barrister-turned-lawmaker, Lee told reporters that the rally sent a strong message to Beijing that Hong Kong people wanted "real, genuine democracy."
The democrats have dismissed Beijing's announcement as an empty gesture. They say not only are there no guarantees that direct elections for the chief executive will take place in 2017, but that candidates will still need to be put forward by a nomination committee, the makeup of which has not yet been agreed.
"There are so many blanks in this proposal," Lee said. "We still don't know if we will have genuine elections for all of the legislature in 2020 or what the screening procedure will be like for the chief executive. We demand to know all the details."
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
RSS