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Hong Kong

Hong Kong to march for democracy on handover anniversary

HONG KONG (AFP) – Tens of thousands in Hong Kong are expected to hit the city’s sweltering streets Thursday for an annual democracy rally marking the 13th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
Organisers are expecting about 50,000 protesters to turn out for the July 1 march, down from [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 1, 2010

Hong Kong votes to add elected legislative seats

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s legislature on Friday agreed to add 10 elected seats, completing a set of Beijing-backed electoral changes that critics say reinforce the territory’s undemocratic political system.
The legislators approved the proposed changes by a vote of 46-12, concluding a three-day marathon debate. On Thursday, they cleared a measure [...]

Read More » No commentJune 27, 2010

Hong Kong passes Beijing-backed election changes

HONG KONG – Hong Kong legislators passed the first part of a Beijing-backed package of electoral changes Thursday that critics say will delay full democracy in this former British colony.
The package has been billed by the government as reform because it expands the committee that selects Hong Kong’s chief executive and [...]

Read More » No commentJune 25, 2010

HK legislators attack limited electoral reform

HONG KONG – Pro-democracy Hong Kong legislators on Wednesday attacked a proposal for limited political reforms made by the territory’s Beijing-appointed government and tried to stall a vote expected to go in the administration’s favor.
If successful, the legislative reforms would be the first to pass in the semiautonomous former British colony [...]

Read More » No commentJune 24, 2010

Hong Kong publisher halts Tiananmen memoir

HONG KONG – A Hong Kong publisher said Sunday he has scrapped plans to publish an insider account of Beijing’s decision-making behind its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student protesters in Tiananmen Square because of copyright problems.
Bao Pu said he had planned to release the purported memoir of former Premier Li Peng [...]

Read More » No commentJune 22, 2010

Death is no escape from Internet in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AFP) – Even Hong Kong’s dead cannot escape the Internet after the government Thursday opened the electronic gates on a brand new virtual graveyard.
In Chinese culture, relatives are expected to visit the cemetery at least once a year to pay their respects. But now, mourners can simply visit memorial.gov.hk [...]

Read More » No commentJune 10, 2010

Exiles, Hong Kongers break silence on Tiananmen

HONG KONG – Exiled student leaders, Hong Kong citizens and Taiwan’s president on Friday challenged China’s silence on the 21st anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown with tributes outside the mainland — and on the Internet.
Tens of thousands of people held aloft white candles at a large park in the [...]

Read More » No commentJune 5, 2010

Low turnout deals blow to HK democracy campaign

HONG KONG – Most Hong Kongers stayed away from special elections Sunday that five opposition lawmakers had triggered, dealing a blow to their democracy campaign in this former British colony.
With just two hours to go before polls closed, only 14.6 percent of Hong Kong’s 3.4 million registered voters had cast ballots [...]

Read More » No commentMay 18, 2010

HK democracy activists make final appeal for votes

HONG KONG – Five Hong Kong democracy activists made a final appeal to voters Saturday before a special election they triggered as an attempt to pressure Beijing to make political reforms in this former British colony.
Beijing opposes Sunday’s election as a challenge to its authority, and Hong Kong’s leader said he [...]

Read More » No commentMay 15, 2010

Hong Kong tycoon’s Internet group cuts ties with Google

HONG KONG (AFP) – The Internet company owned by Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, severed ties with Google’s search services Wednesday, sparking concerns that other companies may also pull away from the Web giant.
Stressing its adherence to China’s laws, Hong Kong-listed TOM Group issued a statement on behalf of subsidiary [...]

Read More » No commentMarch 25, 2010