Word: beijingers
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When Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was convicted in December of subverting the state after he helped organize a democracy petition, the only protesters gathered outside the Beijing courtroom were foreign diplomats waiting to tell a pack of Western journalists that their governments officially condemned the verdict.
This isn't the first roadblock on Hong Kong's long march toward democracy. The British routinely co-opted or marginalized opponents to colonial rule until the 1980s, when they finally allowed a certain number of local district councilors to be elected. In the early 1990s, the first legislative elections...
Universal suffrage seems to hover constantly on the Hong Kong horizon, which is why, this time, the pan-democrats have to ask themselves whether even some small reform is better than no reform. Should they strike a compromise or make battle? Five legislators chose to do battle: in January, they...
Most of the pan-democrats are working toward a compromise. Chief Executive Donald Tsang hinted last week that he, too, is looking for a "middle ground," and a member of the cabinet said the final proposal, which will be voted on this summer (and requires two-thirds support to pass...
Beijing, of course, has the power to postpone democracy indefinitely; the promise it made back in 1997 is vague. Hong Kong's constitution says universal suffrage is the "ultimate goal," but there is no timeline. It's up to the local government to initiate electoral reforms, and it takes its...