The Hong Kong government announced yesterday it will make changes boosting the proportion of elected representatives on a panel that chooses the territory's leader as part of a reform proposal backed by Beijing but denounced by protesters.
But the amended proposal drew fire from opposition lawmakers, who threatened to veto the package during a vote tomorrow because they said it falls far short of demands for universal suffrage.
"It's just window-dressing and meaningless," pro-democracy Legislator Ronny Tong (湯家驊) said. The government "doesn't demonstrate any sincerity in responding to the call of the people of Hong Kong for a timetable" for democracy.
Earlier, the Hong Kong government proposed doubling the size of the territory's 800-member leader selection committee and expanding the legislature. The plan entails adding 529 city councilors to the leader selection panel and adding five legislative seats for the councilors.
But tens of thousands of people marched two weeks ago, saying that the reforms did not go far enough, prompting Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
One point of contention was the number of appointed city councilors. Currently, 102 district councilors are appointed. But Hong Kong's political opposition have called for abolishing such seats, saying they were undemocratic.
Yesterday, Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui (
That means the proposed makeup of the panel that chooses Hong Kong's next leader in 2007 won't be affected, but later committees will have fewer appointees.
"These adjustments are the most that the government can do," Hui told a news conference.
Tsang urged lawmakers to accept the proposal, arguing that polls have shown that many citizens think a democratic timetable should be dealt with separately.
"The marches have taken place. The slogans have been chanted. Now the public wants to see solid progress in democratic development. The public wants its electoral representatives to help democracy take root and flourish," Tsang said.
But pro-democracy lawmakers, who want full democracy by 2012, said the proposal was too limited.
"We are very disappointed," said Lee Wing-tat (
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
‘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,”
‘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
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS