Archive for the ‘Democracy’ Category
Poll defeats, pro-democracy protests a challenge for China's Xi in handling Taiwan, Hong Kong
FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 file photo, supporters of Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party watch TV for the election results in Taipei, Taiwan, as preliminary vote count shows Taiwan's pro-China ruling party has suffered stiff defeats in municipal elections. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 photo, police officers throw a pro-democracy protester on the main road outside government headquarters in Hong Kong as hundreds of pro-democracy protesters faced off with Hong Kong police, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after being camped out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)(The Associated Press)
In this Nov. 10, 2014 file photo, Vincent Siew, second left, chairman of the Taiwan-based Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation, and his wife Chu Su-hsien, left, are greeted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, second right, and his wife Peng Liyuan before a welcome dinner for APEC leaders at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Xi just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 1, 2014 file photo, a protester is arrested by police officers outside government headquarters in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protesters try to surround the headquarters, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)(The Associated Press)
FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014 file photo, pro-democracy protesters scuffle with police officers on the main road outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, stepping up their movement for genuine democratic reforms after being camped out on the city's streets for more than two months. An electoral pummeling for Taiwans pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)(The Associated Press)
TAIPEI, Taiwan An electoral pummeling for Taiwan's pro-Beijing ruling party and a new spike in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have delivered a reality check to Chinese President Xi Jinping just when he was riding a wave of high-profile diplomacy.
Xi's message of a better economic future by joining forces with Beijing rather than aligning against it doesn't seem to be working with the electorate in Taiwan, where voters turned out in droves over the weekend to support the chief opposition Democratic Progressive Party in local elections.
The DPP advocates more distance between Taiwan and China and taps into concerns many Taiwanese have over any eventual unification with authoritarian Beijing.
Likewise, Xi's message is not working with the Hong Kong protesters, who clashed with police early Monday as they tried to surround government headquarters to revitalize their flagging movement in the face of Beijing's intransigence on democratic reforms.
The Hong Kong protests reminded Taiwanese voters of what Taiwan could become in the event of unification with China, said Kweibo Huang, associate professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei.
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Poll defeats, pro-democracy protests a challenge for China's Xi in handling Taiwan, Hong Kong
Hong Kong police drive out pro-democracy protesters
Kin Cheung/AP Photo A protester lies on the stairway as police try to remove him and others from a tube station near government headquarters in Hong Kong Monday, Dec. 1, 2014.
Hong Kong police reclaimed swaths of an area occupied by pro-democracy protesters on Monday morning after hours of intense clashes which led to scores of injuries and arrests.
Sunday nights clashes were perhaps the most violent since the movement began two months ago. Police baton charges left some protesters prostrate and bleeding, while volleys of pepper spray left others vomiting and temporarily blind. At least 40 people were arrested; one officer was knocked out cold in a scuffle and taken away on a stretcher.
At about 8am local time (midnight GMT), police reclaimed a flyover above the protest encampment, removed a line of hanging pro-democracy banners, and cheered loudly to celebrate their advance. Protesters below hurled insults and held up their middle fingers.
An hour and a half later, the scene had calmed somewhat, although about 500 protesters remained at the site, some hurling insults at lines of police in full riot gear.
Vinki Tsang, a 20-year-old psychology student, spent the morning picking up debris from a part of flyover still accessible to protesters.
We do not know what we can do but we just want to try and clean up a little, said Tsang, both of her knees bandaged from Sunday nights street battle. Last night I was very scared. Now I am looking for ways to contribute again to our fight for democracy. I do not understand why the police are so brutal with us they are Hong Kongers too, they will benefit from the results of our battle as well.
A 24-year-old office worker who only gave her English name, Sony, said: The police have lost all self-control. I feel dejected because it is obvious that our methods are not working with them. But since we are not ready to take up arms, we have to think about what we can do to make the situation advance.
Late on Sunday night, student leaders urged a large crowd of supporters to escalate the movement by surrounding government headquarters. Unable to reach them due to barricades and a heavy police presence, protesters broke through cordons into Tamar Park, a grassy space adjacent to government headquarters, and Lung Wo Road, closing the four-lane east-west route.
Demonstrators on the frontline wore helmets, masks and goggles, carrying plastic shields and the umbrellas that gave the pro-democracy movement its name. The police have been beating us so many times, Kenci Wong, 24, who works in advertising. But what we are asking for is right. The government hopes we will get tired but we are very determined.
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Hong Kong police drive out pro-democracy protesters
Forty arrested in Hong Kong pro-democracy protests
Hong Kong Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police Monday as they tried to surround HongKong government headquarters to revitalize their flagging movement for democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months.
Repeating scenes that have become familiar since the movement began in late September, protesters carrying umbrellas which have become symbols of the pro-democracy movement battled police armed with pepper spray, batons and riot shields.
After student leaders told a big crowd rallying Sunday evening at the main protest site outside government headquarters that they would escalate their campaign, hundreds of protesters pushed past police lines on the other side of the complex from the protest site. They blocked traffic on a main road, but were stopped by police barricades from going down a side road to Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying's office.
The protesters, many wearing surgical masks, hard hats and safety goggles and chanting, "I want true democracy," said they wanted to occupy the road to prevent Leung and other government officials from getting to work in the morning.
At one point, police charged the crowd, aggressively pushing demonstrators back with pepper spray and batons, after some protesters started pelting them with water bottles and other objects. Police later fell back, letting demonstrators re-occupy the road. At dawn, police charged again and cleared the protesters from some areas around the government headquarters.
Police Senior Superintendent Tsui Wai-hung said 40 protesters had been arrested, adding that authorities would not let the road, a major thoroughfare, remain blocked.
"We will open up this road," Tsui told reporters.
A government statement said 11 police had been injured but didn't give a total injury count.
"The government spokesman reiterated that society would not accept the illegal acts of violent radicals who repeatedly pushed police officers and charged their cordon lines during scuffles," the statement read.
Protesters said they were taking action to force a response from HongKong's government, which has made little effort to address their demands that it scrap a plan by China's Communist leaders to use a panel of Beijing-friendly elites to screen candidates for HongKong's leader in inaugural 2017 elections.
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Forty arrested in Hong Kong pro-democracy protests
Forty arrested in Hong Kong pro-democracy protests (+video)
Hong Kong Pro-democracy protesters clashed with police Monday as they tried to surround HongKong government headquarters to revitalize their flagging movement for democratic reforms after camping out on the city's streets for more than two months.
Repeating scenes that have become familiar since the movement began in late September, protesters carrying umbrellas which have become symbols of the pro-democracy movement battled police armed with pepper spray, batons and riot shields.
After student leaders told a big crowd rallying Sunday evening at the main protest site outside government headquarters that they would escalate their campaign, hundreds of protesters pushed past police lines on the other side of the complex from the protest site. They blocked traffic on a main road, but were stopped by police barricades from going down a side road to Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying's office.
The protesters, many wearing surgical masks, hard hats and safety goggles and chanting, "I want true democracy," said they wanted to occupy the road to prevent Leung and other government officials from getting to work in the morning.
At one point, police charged the crowd, aggressively pushing demonstrators back with pepper spray and batons, after some protesters started pelting them with water bottles and other objects. Police later fell back, letting demonstrators re-occupy the road. At dawn, police charged again and cleared the protesters from some areas around the government headquarters.
Police Senior Superintendent Tsui Wai-hung said 40 protesters had been arrested, adding that authorities would not let the road, a major thoroughfare, remain blocked.
"We will open up this road," Tsui told reporters.
A government statement said 11 police had been injured but didn't give a total injury count.
"The government spokesman reiterated that society would not accept the illegal acts of violent radicals who repeatedly pushed police officers and charged their cordon lines during scuffles," the statement read.
Protesters said they were taking action to force a response from HongKong's government, which has made little effort to address their demands that it scrap a plan by China's Communist leaders to use a panel of Beijing-friendly elites to screen candidates for HongKong's leader in inaugural 2017 elections.
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Forty arrested in Hong Kong pro-democracy protests (+video)