Close Me!
Hong Kong | By Suzanne Pepper | Of all the post-mortems conducted after the November 6th District Councils election, none have been more painful to watch than those done on the Civic Party.
We did nothing wrong. All we did was in the track of China¡¯s constitution and election law. But I was told there were policy and regulation, which were more important and measurable.
by Suzanne Pepper
With the November District Councils election now an unhappy memory for Hong Kong democrats, attention has re-focused on the next (decidedly un-democratic) phase of its long drawn out 2011/12 election cycle. Here there are no jokes about ¡°small benefits and favors¡± or snakes and cakes for grassroots voters since the key players at this level are not grassroots and benefits don¡¯t need to be discussed. In polite formal discourse the people who count are known as stake-holders, otherwise referred to as the power elite, tycoons, social notables, and so on. Read more →
by Suzanne Pepper
Of all the post-mortems conducted after the November 6th District Councils election, none have been more painful to watch than those done on the Civic Party. Painful not because party members fared so badly because they really didn¡¯t, except in contrast to expectations that they naturally did nothing to discourage among candidates and supporters beforehand. Read more →
Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) professor Qiao Mu mounted a campaign as an “independent candidate” in Beijing Haidian district’s people’s congress election, which took place on November 8. Below, Qiao gives his account of the suppression he encountered, which he distributed through email last week:
As an independent candidate, I did not win the election, but got the second largest votes (1300 ballots) after one month campaign with my voluntary supporters, which shaped democracy in my university-community and brought many positive changes in the campus management and people¡¯s mind. Read more →
by Suzanne Pepper
Sure enough, Hong Kong¡¯s political battlefields are now littered with the bones of pro-democracy fighters who tried parachuting into other people¡¯s territory despite the known risks. Radicals wanted to teach moderates and especially the Democratic Party a lesson for reneging on their 2010 political reform pledges. Others including both moderates and radicals thought they could exploit the new opportunities that came with the 2010 reform package and turned District Council seats into stepping stones for admission to the Legislative Council.
In San Francisco, voters are gearing up for an historic election tomorrow, with the city¡¯s first Chinese-American mayor likely to win office. Ed Lee, the interim mayor is ahead, but he¡¯s also contending with 15 other candidates, several of whom are also Asian-American.
And that means other Asian-Americans may be just as busy as the candidates themselves, including people like Hiu Xiao, who reports in San Francisco for Sing Tao Daily, a Hong Kong-based paper that, like five other Chinese-language papers, circulates widely throughout San Francisco.
by Chang Yu
The “Occupy Wall Street” movement that targets corporate greed has rocked multiple U.S. metropolises and lasted many weeks.
The original protest began on September 17, 2011. An advertisement-free anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy, the growing disparity in wealth, and the absence of legal repercussions behind the recent global financial crisis. Activists from internet groups anonymously encouraged their followers to take part in the protests by calling for protesters to “flood lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street.” Other groups began to join in th Read more →
By Jessica L. Belk
The Sino-Zambian Dilemma
In the September 2011 presidential elections in Zambia, Michael Sata won the election based on an platform of anti-Chinese rhetoric. The presidential vote was even referred to as a ¡°referendum¡± on China. President Sata has accused the Chinese companies in Zambia of exploiting the work pool and resources of the region in an effort to ¡°take over.¡± This claim is probably due to the fact that only ten percent of Chinese investment is directed toward industries outside of the mining sector (like agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and retail). His anti-China stance began back in the 2006 campaign and Western news sources dubbed Sata the ¡°anti-China force in Africa.¡± Read more →
by Chang Yu
China¡¯s currency is a reoccurring topic during the evolution of the Sino-US relationship. Especially election is nearing, it inevitably appears on the table. U.S. leaders took swipes at China on Oct. 6th 2011, as the Senate voted to advance a bill to penalize countries said to be manipulating their currencies and President Barack Obama accused the China of manipulating the yuan.
The Senate’s currency bill would compel the Obama administration to levy tariffs and other penalties against China and other countries for having “misaligned” currencies. The measure reflects lawmakers’ concerns that China holds down the value of its currency, the yuan, in an effort to boost the country’s exports.
Mr. Obama’s rare public criticism of China came at a White House news conference earlier in Oct. 6th where he accused China of manipulating the yuan and taking other actions to bolster its growth at the expense of the rest of the world.
By Jessica L. Belk
The Emergence of the Cake Theory
The international community has two very divergent viewpoints concerning an economically rising China. First, developing countries now see China as a preferred economic partner in some ways because its investment into multiple sectors can be even more alluring than the developed world¡¯s aid. Second, the West (and the United States in particular) is threatened by the intensifying economic power in the East, but is simultaneously becoming more fiscally interdependent with China due to financial crises at home. This fear is adding to a growing misconception that if the Chinese are becoming richer, it is intentional and due to China and its scholars being of one mind in their policies. This simply is untrue and global citizens are not cognizant of the debate going on between Chinese leadership in regard to China¡¯s economic direction. Read more →
BEIJING – (AP) — Increasing numbers of Chinese are seeking to run as independent candidates in upcoming local elections, but face daunting obstacles as the ruling Communist Party tries to tamp down any threat to its monopoly on power.
More Chinese independents then ever are believed to be running for local legislative councils, numbering in the hundreds by one estimate. There’s Cao Tian, a property developer, who’s shooting for the mayorship of the massive central metropolis of Zhengzhou, and Liu Ping, a civil rights activist seeking a district seat in the Jiangxi province city of Xinyu. Read more →
Suzanne's hkfocus blog follows the developing story of Hong Kong's democracy movement as it struggles to maintain its coherence amid the growing pressures for full integration within the Chinese political system.
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