The US Congress has expressed concerns over civil liberty curbs in Hong Kong directly to Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
Media and immigration controls, disappointment over a constitutional reform plan and failure to make progress on universal suffrage were among the concerns raised by leaders of the US legislature during talks with Tsang, who is on a three day visit to Washington.
Republican Representative Henry Hyde, the chairman of the powerful committee on international relations of the House of Representatives, and ranking Democratic member Tom Lantos raised the issues in a "very candid but cordial" fashion, Hyde's spokesman Sam Stratman said.
"The concerns over civil liberties were on freedom of the press -- self-censorship and interference in press -- and denial of visas to pro-democracy activists, Beijing's lack of respect for the Basic Law, disappointment with the constitutional reform plan and failure to make progress on universal suffrage," Stratman said.
Congress sought "further progress in the development of democracy in Hong Kong," said Lynne Weil, spokeswoman for Lantos.
"The positive sign is the upcoming election of the chief executive," she said.
Tsang, named by Beijing this year, told reporters that he briefed Congress on the latest proposal submitted to the Hong Kong legislative council seeking elections next year of a chief executive and 2007 for the territory's legislature.
The plan also calls for doubling the size of the 800-member election committee that chooses the chief executive and is currently stacked with prominent citizens loyal to Beijing. It did not however spell out a timetable for giving the public the right to elect the territory's leader and lawmakers, and unconvinced opposition lawmakers have vowed to vote it down in the legislature. They are also organizing a large-scale protest on Dec. 4 for the public to denounce the reform proposals.
But Tsang on Wednesday defended the reform plans, saying they "represent a major advancement in our democratic arrangements in Hong Kong" and "these developments were welcome by our interlocutors, including Chairman Hyde."
Under the territory's post-colonial constitution, it must enact laws that will eventually create a fully representative electoral system. But China stymied a swift transition in a controversial ruling last year, insisting change must be gradual.
Tsang said the meetings with US lawmakers, senior officials and business leaders here were "very important and very useful to dispel unnecessary conceptions of Hong Kong among leading figures in the American administration, Congress and private sector."
He was scheduled to hold talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice-President Dick Cheney yesterday.
His predecessors have met with the US president during their trips to Washington but Tsang did not consider it a "downgrade" for not being able to meet with US President George W. Bush.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
RSS