Acting Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang (
Tsang met with Liao Hui (
Chen described the meeting as unscheduled. He said Tsang was vacationing in the city of Jiangmen over the weekend when he learned Liao was in nearby Shenzhen, so the two decided to meet.
Tsang told Liao that Hong Kong's government had been operating smoothly since he replaced his former boss, Tung Chee-hwa (
An 800-member committee loyal to Beijing will choose Hong Kong's new leader on July 10 and Tsang is thought to be China's No. 1 choice for the job.
Chen said Tsang and Liao did not discuss Beijing's rumored preference for him. No one has announced their candidacy in the leadership race so far.
China's interest in Tsang has surprised some because he was a career civil servant in the administration when Hong Kong was still a British colony, and he was knighted for his service. Some analysts say Beijing still has doubts about his loyalty.
Tsang, a devout Roman Catholic, also visited the grave of Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier on the island of Shangchuan, his spokesman said, highlighting his Western influences.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS