2005-3-4
Jerilyn Watson
I'm Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.
All week there was discussion about the future of Hong Kong
leader Tung Chee-hwa. Mister Tung, in comments Friday, defended the
record of his seven years in office. Yet there were reports that he
had already resigned. He was in Beijing for the yearly meeting of
the legislature, the National People's Congress.
Mister Tung has been unpopular. In two thousand three, a
half-million people protested after he tried to establish a security
law approved in Beijing. The demonstrators also were protesting the
slow reaction to the spread of the lung infection SARS.
Tung Chee-hwa is sixty-seven years
old. He earned millions of dollars in the shipping business before
he became chief executive of Hong Kong. He was the first leader
chosen after British colonial rule ended in nineteen ninety-seven.
Since then, China and Hong Kong have followed a policy known as "one
country, two systems."
The territory's Electoral Committee appointed Mister Tung to a
second five-year term in two thousand two.
Hong Kong law says that if the chief executive leaves, the
temporary replacement is the chief secretary. That job is held by
Donald Tsang.
Local media say Chinese officials may want the next chief
executive to serve a full five-year term, instead of just the next
two years. If that happens, reports say hopes of democratic reforms
could be pushed back at least until two thousand ten.
Pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong want changes before
elections planned in two thousand seven. These politicians want all
citizens to have the right to elect their representatives directly.
In two thousand, business leaders and professionals chose members of
the Hong Kong legislature. Almost seven million people live in Hong
Kong. Only about one hundred sixty thousand of them were able to
vote.
In Washington this week, there was discussion of another issue
involving China. American officials oppose efforts to end a European
ban on weapons sales to that country. Some European Union nations
have already begun to sell military supplies to China. The ban came
after Chinese troops crushed pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen
Square in Beijing in nineteen eighty-nine.
President Bush discussed American concerns during his recent
visit to Europe. Reports said he made little progress on this issue
with European leaders. The president says easing the ban could, in
his words, "change the balance of relations between China and
Taiwan." China sees Taiwan as a rebellious province.
This week, the American State Department released its yearly
report on human rights around the world. Again, it listed many
efforts to suppress dissent in China. And again China reacted with
its own report on what the Chinese condemned as United States
offenses. These included the mistreatment of prisoners by American
soldiers in Iraq.
In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Jerilyn
Watson. I'm Steve Ember.