Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week. Full Article
Images of February
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Cheney gets heart transplant, in intensive care
24 Mar 2012
Shooter of Florida teen not a racist, lawyer says
24 Mar 2012
Sarkozy announces crackdown on Internet hate sites
22 Mar 2012
Black friend defends shooter of Florida teen
4:44pm EDT
Scientist who coined 'Pink Slime' reluctant whistleblower
24 Mar 2012
Discussed
165
Marine sergeant faces discipline for Facebook critique of Obama
159
Republican budget plan seeks to play up tax reform
141
Bernanke says gold standard wouldn’t solve problems
Watched
Japanese tsunami boat appears near Canada
Sat, Mar 24 2012
Kim Kardashian gets doused in flour at perfume launch
Fri, Mar 23 2012
Horror hits the runway in Japan
Fri, Mar 23 2012
Beijing loyalist to lead Hong Kong after fraught election
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Tough, pro-Beijing Leung to lead wary Hong Kong
4:22am EDT
Hong Kong notables pick Leung as leader amid protests
2:40am EDT
Protests loom as Hong Kong braces for new leader
Wed, Mar 21 2012
RUSAL 2011 net dives 92 percent on Norilsk valuation
Mon, Mar 19 2012
China leader's ouster could cloud succession plans
Thu, Mar 15 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Essential tax and accounting reading: Another Deloitte China resignation, Volcker backs rotation, Scholastic gets sales tax bill, and more
Protestants on the rise as Pope Benedict visits Mexico
Related Topics
World »
China »
The next Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying celebrates with his wife Regina Tong Ching-yi as he attends a news conference after Leung won the chief executive election at a vote counting station in Hong Kong March 25, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Tyrone Siu
By James Pomfret and Sisi Tang
HONG KONG |
Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:53pm EDT
HONG KONG (Reuters) - An election committee of about 1,200 Hong Kong notables picked Beijing-loyalist Leung Chun-ying as the city's next leader on Sunday, after a fraught campaign which will intensify pressure on China to keeps its promise to allow Hong Kong a direct leadership election in 2017.
Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is a freewheeling capitalist hub which enjoys a high degree of autonomy and freedom, but Beijing's Communist Party leaders have resisted public pressure for full democracy.
The city's seven million people have no say in who becomes their chief executive, a selection process which was marked by uncommonly high levels of public discontent at perceived interference by China.
Several dozen protesters inside the voting venue erupted in jeers and stood on chairs as the result was announced.
"We want direct elections immediately," they chanted.
Outside, up to 2,000 protesters, some of whom had camped out overnight, yelled slogans and waved banners to show their anger at being denied a voice. "Leung Chun-ying resign, Leung Chun-ying resign," they yelled.
Many spun colorful little flying discs into the air to symbolize a need to fling off such "small circle" polls.
Speaking after his win, the leader-elect who takes over from bow tie-wearing Donald Tsang, said he would work to ensure this is the last time an elite committee votes for a Hong Kong leader, pledging his commitment to direct elections in five years.
"I shall work with the whole of Hong Kong in the next five years to make sure that the 2017 universal suffrage chief executive election will work well."
Leung said he faced a daunting task, but added that he wanted to ease tensions while reaffirming the rule of law, human rights and freedoms.
"During the heat of the campaign, inevitably, passions were roused and strong remarks made," said Leung, showing little visible emotion after his win.
"Now that the contest is over, it is time to reunite, we must work in unison to be inclusive ... and once again instill positive energy into our community," Leung told reporters even as protesters tried to shout him down from outside the room.
"HEAVY INFLUENCE" RESENTED
Compared with previous chief executive elections in which a Beijing-backed frontrunner coasted into office, this one was marked by scandal and mud-slinging between the two main candidates.
It also brought into the spotlight the influence China's Communist Party leaders have over Hong Kong politics.
Henry Tang, the scion of a wealthy industrialist and a former head of the civil service, was widely seen early on as the Beijing-backed candidate, but his image was damaged by revelations of a love affair and a scandal over illegal construction at a family-owned villa.
That appeared to be enough to convince China to switch its allegiance to Leung, and lobby election committee members for votes. "Somehow Tang has managed to blow a fixed election," said a Western diplomat in Hong Kong, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Leung, 57, has been dogged by accusations of being a Communist Party member, which he denies.
He is a Hong Kong-born surveyor with deep Chinese connections and a reputation as a tough political operator with a more innovative policy vision, including building cheaper public housing.
Many dismayed residents demanded a fresh election with new candidates. Underlining their frustration, most of more than 200,000 people surveyed said they would abstain if given the chance to vote, according to a University of Hong Kong poll.
"This is the most blatant interference by Beijing into the domestic affairs of Hong Kong ... causing damage to the one country, two systems policy," said Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho, who also stood for election but won only 76 votes.
Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula with a promise of full democracy as an "ultimate aim".
Though that has not been achieved, it remains a beacon of democratic reform and civil liberties in China, which wants to see the self-ruled island of Taiwan reunited with the mainland, perhaps under a similar formula.
The election committee, filled with business professionals, tycoons and Beijing loyalists, selected Leung with 689 of 1,132 votes cast as successor to the bow tie-wearing Donald Tsang, who cannot stand again.
Tang, Leung's main rival, got 285 votes.
"For this election, everyone feels the influence of Beijing is very heavy," said political analyst Johnny Lau, speaking inside the harbor-front convention centre where the vote was held. "(Leung) has created an aura of being a Chinese emperor that will make it more difficult to lead politically."
"This election has caused great divisions. His ability to gather public support will be quite weak because these frustrations have accumulated over many years," Lau added.
(Additional reporting by Tan Ee Lyn, Carmen Ng and Stefanie McIntyre; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Daniel Magnowski)
World
China
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.