Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
The move was seen by analysts, however, as a bid by Beijing to shore up the flagging fortunes of the gaffe-prone leader in his last two years at the helm of the former British colony.
Tung, selected to lead Hong Kong when control of the city switched from London to Beijing in 1997, is among 10 local nominees to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a talk shop that advises the national leadership, the Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said.
Source said he was also being groomed to fill a vacancy in the body's group of vice chairmen, a position that confers state leadership and membership of the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party, it said.
The list will be presented for approval to the full CPPCC when it meets in Beijing for its annual session on Thursday.
His proposed appointment has sparked media speculation that he will step down early, following two years of political crises, or take a reduced role in the final years of his administration.
Analysts like Joseph Cheng (
"This is not a sidelining exercise," Cheng, a professor of politics at Hong Kong City University, told reporters.
"There is a vacancy in the body of vice chairmen, a very prestigious body. I think they want to give him greater status in recognition of the fact that he is Hong Kong's first-ever second-term chief executive," Cheng said.
Tung, who was a leading member of the Hong Kong Cabinet under British rule, was selected as chief executive of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese enclave in 1997.
Calls for his resignation have grown since a political row over governance of the city exploded in 2003 following a huge street protest by half a million pro-democracy activists demanding citizens have the right to elect their leaders.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS