| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| Tens of thousands march for Hong Kong democracy |
| 2005-12-04 |
| Up to 60,000 people have taken to the streets of Hong Kong demanding greater democratic rights, including the right to directly elect their political leader. The march, led by pro-democracy lawmakers, began in Hong Kong's Victoria Park before snaking its way to the government's headquarters in the downtown Central district. Tens of thousands wore "Hong Kong loves democracy" stickers in a protest which could embarrass Donald Tsang, Hong Kong Chief Executive, who took over from the unpopular Tung Chee-hwa this year. The march was not comparable to a similar protest in July 2003, when an economic slump and disaffection with Hong Kong's leaders drew half a million people to a pro-democracy march. But a package of electoral reforms pushed by the city's chief executive and Beijing have sparked a new wave of unrest in the former British colony. Critics say the reform proposals do not go far enough and set no timetable for universal suffrage, which Hong Kong's post-colonial constitution, the Basic Law, allows for. Hong Kong's chief executive is currently picked by a China-backed committee of 800 electors. Just half of the members of Hong Kong's 60-seat legislature are directly elected. This is despite calls for a full democracy following the handover of Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997. The administration's reform plan would double the size of the chief executive selection committee and add 10 seats to the Legislative Council, five of which would be directly elected. But the pro-democracy camp have refused to endorse the proposals, and have said it will kill the proposal unless Mr Tsang offers a timetable or road map clearly stating when Hong Kong will become a full democracy. "I just feel there are moments in one's life that when you have to stand up and be counted. And for me, this is one of those moments," Anson Chan, Hong Kong's former No 2 official, said. "I believe democracy to be good for Hong Kong and in good time, when the time is ripe, it would also be good for my country." |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #2 crush em with tanks - didn't cause much of a problem last time, did it? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-12-04 20:20 |
| #1 Beijing must be in a quandry: how to nip this in the bud without damaging the Summer Olympics. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-12-04 20:11 |