Hong Kong protests mar swearing-in
Hong Kong – A pro-democracy heckler interrupted a speech by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the swearing-in of Hong Kong’s new leader yesterday and tens of thousands of residents marched to protest against Chinese rule on the 15th anniversary of the Asian financial hub’s return to Beijing’s control.
The outpouring of discontent underscored rising tensions between the communist mainland and the vibrant city of 7 million that was returned to China in 1997 after more than a century of British colonial rule.
While much of the discontent revolves around growing economic inequality and stunted democratic development, Hong Kongers are also upset over what they see as arrogant Chinese behaviour – wealthy mainlanders taking over retail outlets during flashy Hong Kong shopping trips, for example, or even the choice of language during yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony, Beijingaccented Mandarin instead of the Cantonese dialect spoken locally.
In the ceremony, self-made millionaire Leung Chun Ying, 57, became Hong Kong’s third chief executive after Donald Tsang and Tung Chee Hwa. He has promised to address Hong Kongers’ economic needs, including skyrocketing housing prices, which many blame on mainland apartment buyers.
A demonstrator who tried to interrupt Hu as he began his address was bundled away by security officials. The man, one of the guests invited to the inauguration, waved a small flag and yelled slogans calling for China’s leaders to condemn the brutal June 4, 1989, crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. He also called for an end to one-party rule in China. Hu took no notice and continued to read his speech, but the incident marred what was supposed to be a carefully orchestrated visit emphasising strengthened ties between Hong Kong and mainland China.
Leung, a police officer’s son, replaces career bureaucrat Tsang, who took office in 2005 and is barred from another term.
Leung was chosen as
chief executive in March, winning 689 votes from a 1200-seat committee of the business elite who mostly voted according to Beijing’s wishes.
Hong Kong’s 3.4 million registered voters, who can vote for neighbourhood councillors and half of all lawmakers, had no say.
In mid-afternoon, tens of thousands of protesters marched toward the newly built government headquarters on Hong Kong Island in sweltering heat, beating drums and waving British colonial flags in a gesture of nostalgia for an era during which democratic rights were limited but the rule of law was firmly in place.
In his speech, Hu said Hong Kong residents now had more democratic rights and freedoms than ever before – a reminder that China has largely kept the promise it made when it regained the territory from Britain to keep Hong Kong’s relatively open political system in place for 50 years.
But the protesters see China’s Communist Party rule as strongly at odds with the values that many inherited from a Britishinfluenced education.