The Hong Kong model of "one country, two systems" only shows how easily China reneges on its pledges and it would be impossible to transplant the model to Taiwan, the Cabinet said yesterday on the eve of the anniversary of Hong Kong's 1997 handover to China.
"Beijing's repeated breaking of its promises has only led Taiwanese people to believe that it doesn't mean what it says and that the model is unacceptable," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
According to Chen, information gathered by the Mainland Affairs Council showed that under Chinese rule over 157 incidents have taken place impinging on the territory's freedom, human rights and rule of law as of this month.
One of the most noteworthy was a ruling by China's most powerful legislative body in April according to which Hong Kong citizens cannot democratically choose a successor to unpopular Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
Beijing also said Hong Kong will be allowed to directly elect only some, and not all, its lawmakers in 2008.
Another incident was last years attempt to pass anti-subversion legislation which brought 500,000 people onto the street in protest on July 1.
The Hong Kong government has proposed to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law, which would prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the People's Republic of China or theft of state secrets. It would also ban political organizations and groups in Hong Kong from having contact with similar groups abroad.
Beijing said that passage of the legislation is required under the agreement that saw Hong Kong return to Chinese rule under the "one country, two systems" formula.
On the economic front, Chen said that Hong Kong's GDP per capita in 1997 was recorded at US$26,762 but had dwindled to US$23,027 last year.
Its jobless rate also skyrocketed from 1997's 2.2 percent to 8.7 percent in July last year.
According to an opinion poll administered by the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (
The percentage had risen to 80.8 percent by April this year.
The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday published a paper analyzing political development in Hong Kong since its handover in 1997.
China's actions have fueled Hong Kong people's doubts about whether Beijing will abide by the "one country, two systems" formula which promised to Hong Kong a "high degree" of autonomy.
"Only freedom and democracy in Hong Kong can promote the region's prosperity and economic development," the report said.
The council, in a statement, said that Hong Kong played an important role in keeping peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. "Our government will carefully observe democratic development in Hong Kong and expand our service for Taiwanese in Hong Kong," the statement said.
additional reporting by Melody Chen
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
MORE WARNINGS: If the US company does not clarify and solve issues with its frozen berries, the FDA might extend an import suspension implemented last month, it said The Kaohsiung Department of Health yesterday said it fined Costco NT$4.5 million (US$146,265) over contaminated frozen strawberries, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that although the US company had filed an improvement plan, an import suspension on frozen berries could remain. Three types of frozen berry products imported and sold by Costco have tested positive for the hepatitis A virus since April. The Kaohsiung health department previously fined Costco NT$300,000 for not providing the sales list of a contaminated batch of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend imported from Chile, in contravention of the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法). It later
‘NEGLIGENCE’: After reporting the incident, her superior allegedly asked her why she did not scream, which was an inappropriate attempt to ignore the allegations, critics said An accusation of sexual harassment led to the resignation of a top Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) official, while President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called for a thorough investigation into the incident involving a contractor. Vice President and DPP Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he approved the resignation of DPP deputy secretary-general Hsu Chia-tien (許嘉恬), who headed the party’s Women’s Development Department when the alleged incident happened in September last year. “Gender equality is among our party’s core values, that we have strived for and advanced along with Taiwanese society,” Lai said. “The DPP did not handle it appropriately at the time,
RSS