Hong Kong's government hit back yesterday at a US Congressional resolution which criticized Bei-jing's running of the city, saying foreign leaders should stay out of its affairs.
The criticism echoes an earlier angry response from China, which declared Hong Kong a domestic issue and not for foreign debate.
A Hong Kong government statement said the US resolution, which accused China of suppres-sing freedoms and interfering in the territory's legislative election, "does not reflect the actual situation in Hong Kong, which remains one of the world's freest societies.
"We hope that foreign legislatures will continue to respect the principle that Hong Kong affairs are for Hong Kong to manage," the statement said.
"The Hong Kong government will protect vigilantly the exercising of freedoms protected by the Basic Law," it said.
The government also defended China's role in the territory, saying it had allowed Hong Kong to exercise a high degree of autonomy since the 1997 handover.
The US resolution was issued on Monday, a day after the elections. The Hong Kong statement defended the polls, which had been criticized after pro-democracy candidates won almost 60 percent of the vote but only 40 percent of the council seats.
"On elections, we take great pride in our fair, open and honest elections. We will not tolerate any illegal acts that may tarnish our reputation in this respect," it said.
In response to US criticism of an April ruling by Beijing that stymied a swift transition to democracy in the territory, the government said reform was still on track: "It has never been intended ... for Hong Kong, completely on its own, to decide on its political structure. Time and again, our national leaders have expressed support for the development of democracy."
Asian perspectives of the US have shifted from a country once perceived as a force of “moral legitimacy” to something akin to “a landlord seeking rent,” Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) said on the sidelines of an international security meeting. Ng said in a round-table discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that assumptions undertaken in the years after the end of World War II have fundamentally changed. One example is that from the time of former US president John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address more than 60 years ago, the image of the US was of a country
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
BLIND COST CUTTING: A DOGE push to lay off 2,000 energy department workers resulted in hundreds of staff at a nuclear security agency being fired — then ‘unfired’ US President Donald Trump’s administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation’s nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE’s) blind cost cutting would put communities at risk. Three US officials who spoke to The Associated Press said up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off late on Thursday, with some losing access to e-mail before they’d learned they were fired, only to try to enter their offices on Friday morning
CONFIDENT ON DEAL: ‘Ukraine wants a seat at the table, but wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since an election, the US president said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks. Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia. The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia. “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian
RSS