BEIJING-BACKED PANEL PICKS NEW HONG KONG LEGISLATURE.Byline: Seth Faison The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times China established a new legislature for Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. on Saturday, ignoring strong protests from Britain that the proceedings were stage-managed and violated agreements on the colony's coming transition to Chinese rule. A 400-member committee, carefully chosen by Beijing from Hong Kong's business and political elite, selected 60 members for the new legislature, which will replace the existing Legislative Council on July 1, when China resumes control over the territory. Hong Kong's Democratic Party boycotted the proceedings and held street protests. The selection process was held not in Hong Kong, but in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, just across the border and insulated in·su·late tr.v. in·su·lat·ed, in·su·lat·ing, in·su·lates 1. To cause to be in a detached or isolated position. See Synonyms at isolate. 2. from demonstrations. Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen
Qian Qichen (钱其琛) (born January 5 1928) is a Chinese diplomat and communist political figure. He served as Chinese foreign minister from April 1988 to March 1998. presided over the proceedings in a hall shrouded shroud n. 1. A cloth used to wrap a body for burial; a winding sheet. 2. Something that conceals, protects, or screens: under a shroud of fog. 3. a. by thick red curtains and the five-star emblem of the Communist Party Communist party, in China Communist party, in China, ruling party of the world's most populous nation since 1949 and most important Communist party in the world since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. . Qian described the choices of the selection committee as ``just, fair, open and based on democratic principles.'' Ten days ago, the same committee chose Tung Chee-hwa, 59, a shipping magnate, to be Hong Kong's first Chinese chief executive. Most of the 130 candidates listed on the ballot, a red booklet that opened like a restaurant menu, were themselves members of the selection committee Saturday. To outsiders that looked like a conflict of interest, but it was no big surprise. Beijing clearly wanted the same set of carefully screened people to chose Hong Kong's new government and to run it. The new lawmaking law·mak·er n. One who makes or enacts laws; a legislator. Also called lawgiver. law  mak body resembles the docile doc·ile adj. 1. Ready and willing to be taught; teachable. 2. Yielding to supervision, direction, or management; tractable. , nonconfrontational groups that the British selected for decades until 1995, when Gov. Christopher Patten started reform by opening some seats on the Legislative Council to democratic election. Seeing those steps toward democracy rolled back, Patten denounced Saturday's selection as ``a bizarre farce.'' ``Over a million people in Hong Kong voted for the present Legislative Council,'' Patten said, ``and up over the border now, 400 people - 400 people - are voting. Four hundred people voting for one another. This procedure was stomach-turning.'' Among winners Saturday were 10 former members of the British-selected Legislative Council who were rejected by voters in the election in 1995 and have since shifted their allegiance from London to Beijing. One of the winners is Cheng Kai-nam, who was so upset that his pro-China party was badly defeated in the 1995 election that he said in a broadcast interview: ``Hong Kong people The following is an alphabetical list of people from Hong Kong.
A
``I would tell them that it is now a very different game,'' Cheng said Saturday. Even though China and Britain are feuding over rival legislatures for Hong Kong, 34 current members of the Legislative Council ended up deciding that it would be better to be a member of the new, China-picked legislature than to have no role at all. Among them is Andrew Wong Andrew Wong Wang Fat, JP, (Chinese: 黃宏發) (December 11, 1943 - ) was the last president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule, the first and only Hong Kong Chinese to served the post. Andrew Wong was born in Shanghai, China. , president of the existing, British-backed council. Wong has been widely accused of a major-league flip-flop, since he vowed publicly last year to avoid the new legislature unless all elected legislators could join as well. But once it became clear that China would not budge in its decision to screen the new body, he gave up and became a candidate. Fending off accusations that his loyalty is divided, Wong has kept the appearance of impartiality by not formally endorsing the establishment of the new legislature while he serves in the current one. On July 1, 1997, like the rest of the 6.3 million people who live here, Wong will shift masters, from London to Beijing. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Demostrators march Saturday through downtown Hong Kong to protest Beijing's procedure to picking a new legislature. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. |
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