Veteran lawmaker and activist Martin Lee (
"He's already worked in the legislature for 23 years, and he just turned 70 this year," Democratic Party Chairman Albert Ho (
Hong Kong's best known democracy advocate, Lee has campaigned for direct elections for all political offices and served as the founding chairman of the Democratic Party from 1994 to 2002.
His lobbying efforts abroad, especially in Washington, have outraged China, which has labeled him a "traitor" to the country.
A former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong has never enjoyed full democracy under either ruler, but it enjoys Western-style civil liberties like freedom of the press and protest.
Hong Kong's leader is chosen by an 800-member committee loyal to Beijing. Half of its legislators are elected, with the rest chosen by interest groups.
Beijing ruled last year the territory could elect its own leader in 2017 and all of its legislators sometime after that. But democracy activists, who had been pushing for an earlier date, fear China will continue to screen candidates.
Lee was quoted as saying in Ming Pao Daily News newspaper yesterday that his biggest regret was not seeing full democracy during his political career.
He said he would continue his fight for democracy after the next legislative elections in September
"Of course I won't be on TV and won't meet with journalists as often," Lee was quoted as saying. "But I will come forward on the big issues, during the protests."
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television. Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis. "I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free
France on Friday showed off to the world the gleaming restored interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, a week before the 850-year-old medieval edifice reopens following painstaking restoration after the devastating 2019 fire. French President Emmanuel Macron conducted an inspection of the restoration, broadcast live on television, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound” after the fire on April 19, 2019. While every effort has been made to remain faithful to the original look of the cathedral, an international team of designers and architects have created a luminous space that has an immediate impact on the visitor. The floor shimmers and
CHAGOS ISLANDS: Recently elected Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told lawmakers that the contents of negotiations are ‘unknown’ to the government Mauritius’ new prime minister ordered an independent review of a deal with the UK involving a strategically important US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, placing the agreement under fresh scrutiny. Under a pact signed last month, the UK ceded sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius, while retaining control of Diego Garcia — the island where the base is situated. The deal was signed by then-Mauritian prime minister Pravind Jugnauth and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Oct. 3 — a month before elections in Mauritius in which Navin Ramgoolam became premier. “I have asked for an independent review of the
LAOS: The bars of bustling Vang Vieng remain open, but information on the investigation into the deaths of six backpackers from suspected methanol poisoning is scarce The music is still playing and the alcohol is still flowing at the bars along one of the party streets in Vang Vieng. Inside a popular venue, a voice over the speaker announces a special offer on beers, as disco lights flicker on the floor. Small paper flags from nations across the world — from the UK to Gabon — hang from the ceiling. Young people travel from all corners of the globe to party in the small town nestled in the Laos countryside, but Vang Vieng is under a global spotlight, following a suspected mass methanol poisoning that killed six
RSS