China, facing growing demands in Hong Kong for more democracy, has rolled out late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping (
State newspapers carried front-page commentaries with remarks by Deng, architect of the "one country, two systems" concept that promised Hong Kong it could keep its capitalist system for 50 years after Britain returned it to Chinese rule in 1997.
The commentaries, published as China marked Deng's death seven years ago at the age of 92, said a main requirement for Hong Kong was patriotism
"There is a standard for Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong, and that is that patriots, making up the main body of the Hong Kong people, must govern Hong Kong," the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily quoted Deng as saying.
Peking University Hong Kong expert Zhang Zhirong said the prominent re-release of Deng's remarks, originally made in June 1984, was a reminder to Hong Kong democrats that Beijing had clear-cut ideas about who was qualified to lead the territory.
"It is saying that politics and democracy are not abstract. Being patriotic toward the country and Hong Kong are specific things," Zhang said. "In reality, it is a warning to Hong Kong's democratic camp."
Being a patriot meant supporting Beijing's control over Hong Kong and not harming the region's prosperity and stability, Deng said.
"As long as these conditions are meant, it doesn't matter if someone is capitalist, feudalist, or even if they believe in a slave-owning system, they are all patriots," Deng said.
Diplomats said it was significant that the media had chosen to mark Deng's anniversary by focusing on Hong Kong rather than highlighting other arguably more significant aspects of his legacy, such as the opening up and reform drive he launched in the late 1970s.
"We will be looking at it closely," said one Western diplomat in Beijing.
When Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, both sides agreed that the former colony should enjoy a high degree of autonomy for 50 years.
But Beijing has taken an increasingly hard line over the territory since half a million people poured into Hong Kong streets last July to denounce Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's (
Tung put off announcing any timetable for democratic reform in December and instead has set up a task force after Beijing demanded more consultations.
In one of the more strident recent warnings, Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po newspaper on Monday quoted a "person concerned" as saying agitations by the pro-democracy camp could force China's hand.
"I have a knife, which I don't usually use. Now it's you who force me to use this knife," the person was quoted as saying.
On Friday, the official China Daily's Hong Kong edition said in a blunt editorial that some in Hong Kong's democracy camp were insufficiently patriotic and therefore unfit to rule.
"Judging with this criterion, some people in the SAR who are currently in positions of power do not meet this pre-requisite to be rulers of Hong Kong," it said.
Widespread anger against Tung, an unelected figure handpicked for the post by Beijing, has fueled demands for more democracy.
Hong Kong's constitution allows for the possibility of direct elections for chief executive and all of the Legislative Council from 2007.
Beijing must approve any election reforms, however, which means that China has the final say. The Communist Party clearly fears growing demands for full democracy could threaten its control over the territory and possibly spread to China.
While much of the public frustration has been directed against Tung and not against China's leaders, political analysts believe that Beijing's increasingly hardline stance will alienate more people before legislative elections later this year.
Recent opinion polls show two-thirds of Hong Kong people want to elect their own leader and all of their legislators from 2007.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS