Under-fire Hong Kong legislator Martin Lee (
"Martin Luther King had a dream -- my name is Martin too and I have two dreams," he said on Hong Kong cable TV news from Washington.
"I have a dream of democracy in Hong Kong and to be able to return to China," he said.
The Democratic Party legislator has caused a storm back home and in China by flying to the US to address a hastily convened Senate East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee hearing on democracy in the territory.
Lee -- who is traveling with fellow pro-democracy Legislator James To (涂謹申) and and human-rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人) -- was branded a "clown" and a "dreamer" by Chinese officials who say he has brought foreign interference into China's internal affairs.
Lee has said he would tell US senators that the people of Hong Kong want full popular elections from 2007, but that he would not ask them for help.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry weighed into the fray yesterday, warning the US to stay out of its business.
"We, the Chinese government, resolutely oppose any attempts to interfere in its internal affairs," said foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超).
"Hong Kong's democratic issue is China's internal affairs, and the Basic Law has earnestly safeguarded the democracy of Hong Kong and its people's democratic rights," Liu said.
"The Chinese people are wise enough to handle Hong Kong affairs according to the law, and any random comments from external forces are not necessary," he said.
The foreign ministry also posted the statement on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).
Earlier, senior officials berated Lee and his mission.
"A few people always like going overseas to ask for help," news reports quoted the vice-minister of commerce as saying before branding them "clowns."
Lee's mission comes amid a heated debate over the future of democracy in the territory.
Democrats want full elections of the chief executive by 2007.
But Beijing has quashed hopes for an early transition to democracy, overshadowing the debate with a discussion about patriotism and whether or not democrats like Lee would be considered patriotic enough to hold office.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS