Hong Kong voters chose a new legislature, with pro-democracy parties retaining a law-blocking veto and the pro-business Liberal Party losing its top two leaders in surprise defeats.

Democrats held onto more than a third of the 60 council seats, potentially giving them power to alter bills that will shape the political future of the southern Chinese city, according to final results from the Hong Kong Election Commission. Liberal Party Chairman James Tien and Vice Chairwoman Selina Chow both lost their seats. Turnout was about 45 percent, compared with 55.6 percent in the 2004 election.

“The biggest loser would definitely be the Liberals, the so-called pro-business party,” Andrew Shuen, co-founder and research director at Hong Kong-based Lion Rock Institute, said in an interview today. “The people of Hong Kong want change. They voted for candidates who didn’t seem to have a chance to win.”

Candidates from parties supporting Chief Executive Donald Tsang had been expected to benefit from warmer ties with China and a surge of patriotism following the Olympics, political analyst Joseph Cheng said before the election.

China still picks the city’s chief executive. Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and the Chinese government has said it won’t allow direct elections for Tsang’s successor in 2012 or before 2020 for lawmakers.

Democrats’ Luck

“The democrats have been lucky,” Ivan Choy, a political science professor at Hong Kong’s Chinese University, said late yesterday.

The result may lead to gridlock in the 60-seat legislature, Shuen said. While the result gives the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and its pro-government allies a majority in the Legislative Council, they fell short of the two-thirds it needs to push through bills.

“There are no winners in this election,” Shuen said. “The DAB has a mandate but not enough seats, while the democrats have enough seats but not a mandate.”

The other 30 seats in the legislature are drawn from so- called functional constituencies that represent special interests and industries, which usually support pro-China parties loyal to the city’s Chief Executive.

“We have to apologize to our supporters for doing badly,” Tien said today at a press conference broadcast on local television stations. Selina Chow resigned from the executive council and as vice chairman of the Liberal party, government- backed Radio Television Hong Kong reported. Tien also quit.

Democrats fought this election without two of their star figures: Martin Lee, the veteran legislator who helped found the Democratic Party, and Anson Chan, the former deputy leader of the government, who both decided not to seek re-election.

So is super star Athlete Liu Xiang like the Greek Warrior Achilles, invincible but for his heel, his only weakness that would make him fall?

What an incredible PR bonanza, isn’t this a lot better than racing and ensuring multi millions of dollars of endorsement! Like everybody else I was looking forward to the hurdles, but not only was it disappointing, it was impossible to believe! If he was already in pain prior to the race, why did he even bother to try, he cannot use drugs to dull out the pain.

I am not the only one who is suspicious and the forums are lively on debate on this topic.

The conspiracy saga rages on from Corporate intent (Nike is involved) to just personal failure. Somehow, I hope I never find out because it would be too much to bear for a Nation who has had its biggest glory moment. Liu Xiang statistically did not have much of a chance to win Gold, infact some question if he would even qualify! The Nike argument comes largely because of the profit share that is made between Athlete, Coach and the association and Liu Xiang is certainly a gravy train right now in sponsorship. Now that he will be likened with Achilles, it may look even better, or so it might be hoped.

As quoted:

Techcrunch has an interesting article on Google supporting and assisting the arrest of an Indian Man for saying he hated a prominent politician. More details on this story here entitled Techie held for posting derogatory messages against Sonia Gandhi on Orkut.

To quote from Techcrunch:

He was then charged under section 292 of Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act because he created a profile and then posted content in vulgar language about Sonia Gandhi in the community. If he’s convicted, he can be imprisoned for up to five years and may have to pay a fine up to Rs one lakh.

Now what is interesting is that for a democracy like India there appears to be no free speech issue issue for arresting a pan who said he hated a politician.

The Express Indian times said this:

Interestingly, the person who formed this community is not guilty as per the law. The police said that hating Sonia Gandhi is a personal opinion of the person who formed the community and having a personal opinion about someone is not an offence as per the law.

So he may not even be technically in breach as the law says he is entitled to a personal opinion.

So why is he charged and arrested?

Isn’t India a democratic country?

When China arrested people such as Shi Tao the media was abuzz, Yahoo was taken, in part, to congress on this, lots of reactions took place. The world was against China and its government, lots of protests took place. Yahoo was called a moral pygmie for supporting China by US Politicians because of this.

Don’t get me wrong, both is wrong, neither China or India should be arresting people for expressing their personal opinions or their free speech rights.

But the Internet has little  news about Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid from Gurgaon in contrast. Shi Tao in contrast was prominent news including the BBC.

China is not a democratic country yet, it is communist and has laws against certain areas of free speech and media. That they are not  agreeable to some, if not most is not my point, I agree that China needs to open up more and become more democratic which it is slowly embracing. What I find awful is that when a democratic country does the same thing, the world turns a blind eye. WHY?

Because you embrace ‘democracy’ therefore it is ok to break your own fundamental values? Countries that are called communist do not?

A dangerous polarization is taking place, like as was mention in this Pro-China or Anti-China video about the infamous torch relay.

China is viewed as simply bad no matter what it does, and if the media and individuals continue to display China poorly without recognizing that there are other aspects you will make us more suspicious. You will make us wonder more about your hidden agenda to hurt us. Are you afraid of China? Why can a perso be arrested in a democractic country for violations of free speech but not in China? What would happen if someone blogged "I don’t like Hu Jintao?" in China, it would be more than a mere footprint of online news, it would take the world by storm, Google would be asked to come in to congress to explain their actions like Yahoo did.

But for Rahul, he doesn’t seem to matter, because he is from India, or because India is "democratic" and endorses the western view of free speech?

Does the world really think China wouldn’t notice this type of treatment and be understanding of it? What does one really hope to achieve other than further polarizing and segmenting the chinese? If it was the intent of western media to garner sympathy and support for creating a more open society in China, your recent display was anything but.

Or perhaps they do not want to understand us, from this post I saw this:

Sushipanda said that over half of my Chinese-Chinese friends on MSN have put the badge on their contact names, in defiance of all the anti-China bullying that they’re undoubtedly reading about in the Chinese newspapers, watching on the Chinese news, and scouring over on the hundreds of blogs and BBS’s peppering China’s cyberscape and devoted to propping up this country’s national pride.

TC suggested that outsiders are suggesting that the news in China is being censored and that Chinese citizens aren’t getting a balanced view of the reality of the international protests. But whatever the cause, this is a significant showing of Chinese nationalistic behavior, and a sign that they are paying attention to the outside world.

What is surprising is that the West and the western media appears to insist that things are bad in China, the Olympics is China’s call to the new century, about improvement, about progress, and about some pride. The only perception the West leaves us with is that you wish to deny this moment of glory to us, why would you do that? When South Korea had their Olympics from a corrupt and military state was there this protest? Infact you were all hailing the progress and hoping South Korea will improve after this, which it did, so why do you want to spoil it for China? Are you envious, jealous or feel that we do not deserve our entry into the word? Do you think us foolish or ignorant of the meaning of “freedom” or “democracy”?

Do not raise your false torch for your so called chaotic and revolutionary freedom that will bring misery and war. You claim the name of Tibet for an Olympic Boycott but the Da Lai Lama himself does not agree or advocate it.

There is much China needs to improve upon, nobody will disagree with you here. There is no question that human rights can be better, that poverty is a problem, that education is a problem, that censorship is a problem, but if you think boycott, revolution and drastic change is the answer, as your violent protests seem to indicate then you will have learnt nothing of China’s true bloodshed in its many revolutions.

Apple Daily and The Sun continued to have Edison Chen on the front page.  Apple Daily said that Edison Chen has backed off on his plan to return to Hong Kong, while The Sun went further by saying that he threatened to slash his wrists in order to force his girlfriend Vincy Yeung into marrying him. I suppose if I was Edison I might not want to come back either but now he might be branded a coward together with everything else people are calling him these days.

In the meantime

The first man arrested over the celebrity sex-photos scandal was freed yesterday when the charge against him was abruptly withdrawn after he had spent two weeks behind bars. Amid a storm of criticism over police handling of the case, Chung Yik-tin, 29, walked out of Tuen Mun Court disguised in a surgical mask and hat after the Department of Justice withdrew a charge against him of publishing an obscene article. On Thursday the Obscene Articles Tribunal, in response to an application by a newspaper, ruled that photographs circulating on the internet of a woman, allegedly Canto-pop star Gillian Chung Yan-tung, naked and spread-legged on a bed with singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei, were indecent but not obscene. Its ruling is an interim one. “After a thorough review we found the possibility is low that the tribunal will make a [final] classification of the photo as obscene. For justice to be seen to be done, we’ve decided to withdraw the charge,” senior government counsel Hayson Tse Ka-sze told the court.

Oscar-winning film director Steven Spielberg withdrew on Tuesday as an artistic adviser to the this year Summer Olympics in Beijing over China’s policy on the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.

“I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual,” Mr Spielberg said in a statement issued on a day when Nobel Peace laureates sent a letter to China’s president urging a change in policies toward its ally Sudan.

“At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur,” he added.

China is a leading oil customer and supplier of weapons to Sudan and is accused by critics of providing diplomatic cover for Khartoum as it stonewalls international efforts to send peacekeepers into Darfur.

In April, Mr Spielberg wrote a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao adding his voice to the chorus of people who have protested China’s involvement with the Sudanese government over the crisis in Darfur. At that time, Mr Spielberg had asked to meet with Hu, but the president failed to respond.

In his statement on Tuesday, Mr Spielberg said Sudan’s government shouldered the bulk of responsibility for “these ongoing crimes” in Darfur but said China “should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there.”

Earlier on Tuesday, nine Nobel Peace Prize laureates – including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel and Jody Williams – sent a letter to Mr Hu urging China to uphold Olympic ideals by pressing Sudan to stop atrocities in Darfur.

“As the primary economic, military and political partner of the Government of Sudan, and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has both the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to a just peace in Darfur,” said the letter.

“Ongoing failure to rise to this responsibility amounts, in our view, to support for a government that continues to carry out atrocities against its own people,” said the letter, released on a day of events by the Save Darfur Coalition.

The letter was also signed by US politicians, Olympic medalists and entertainers and delivered to Chinese embassies and missions as part of events in the United States and Europe staged to mark six months before the August 8-24 Olympics.

In more than four years of conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes, according to estimates from international experts. Khartoum says 9,000 people have died.

Sudan’s government, in its largest offensive in months, attacked three towns in Darfur on Friday, forcing about 200,000 people from their homes and leading thousands to flee into neighbouring eastern Chad.

US actress Mia Farrow, who has led the coalition’s global campaign to press China to change its policies, gathered a crowd outside the Chinese mission to the United Nations in New York as she tried to deliver the letter.

“China hopes that these games will be its post-Tiananmen Square coming out party. But how can Beijing host the Olympic Games at home and underwrite genocide in Darfur?” she said, stuffing the letter under the mission door after her knocks went unanswered.

The letter to President Hu acknowledged Chinese support for a UN Security Council resolution calling for deployment of a UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

“However, we note with dismay that the Chinese government worked to weaken the resolution before it passed,” it said. The letter said China doubled its trade with Sudan last year and continued its military relationship with the African country.

Jody Williams, a US citizen who won the prize in 1997 for her campaign against land mines, said she and fellow female laureates had formed the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006 to focus on conflicts and particularly their impact on women.

Mass rape has been a weapon of warfare in Darfur and in Myanmar, the former Burma, another Chinese-backed regime.

“In Darfur and in the case of Burma, China is the eight-jillion-ton elephant in the room and needs to use some of its weight in a positive way,” Ms Williams said by telephone from Virginia.

The Save Darfur Coalition said it staged similar events in Britain, Portugal and Italy on Tuesday and planned more protests in Nigeria, France, Australia and elsewhere.

The campaign has so far not called for a global boycott of the Beijing games, although activists advocate not attending or watching the Beijing Olympics on television.

China’s embassy had no immediate comment. But last month, the Communist Party’s flagship newspaper and foreign ministry said China would never submit to pressure from groups trying to use the Olympics to change Chinese policy.

A good article on globalvoices today. The most striking comment being that even possession of the photos were illegal by a Police commissioner who clearly did not know better. A major protest was out on the streets to protest the obscene photo case and relevant arrest.

There is now even a facebook group calling for Edison Chen’s arrest.

Depending on the source, anywhere from 250-500 people were marching on the street, a sample from hkdigit.

More than 250 Hong Kong people included members of the League of Social Democrats(Organizers Article23.net said more than 500 people attended) marched from Victoria Park to the Wan Chai Police headquarters to protest against the police’s handling of the obscene photo case involving local pop and film stars including Edison Chen Kwoon-hei(陳冠希), Gillian Chung Yan-tung (鍾欣桐), Bobo Chan Man-woon (陳文媛) and Cecilia Cheung Pak-zhi (張栢芝), implicated Edison’s current girlfriend Vincy Yeung (楊永晴). They accused the police of selective prosecution.

For more information on this there is even a Wikipedia entry.

There are several events of hypocrisy, starting from the lie that the pictures were fabricated, to the innocent and quick arrests of people and the police threatening to jail people simply for possession. I guess being a celebrity gives you some extra benefits in Hong Kong society?

Reposted from CNN, I have not more knowledge than anyone else but this is outrageous! Spread the news!

Authorities have fired an official in central China after city inspectors beat to death a man who filmed their confrontation with villagers, China’s Xinhua news agency reports.a

The killing has sparked outrage in China, with thousands expressing outrage in Chinese Internet chat rooms, often the only outlet for public criticism of the government.

The incident has also alarmed advocates of press freedom, who say municipal authorities had no right to attack a man for simply filming them.

Police have detained 24 municipal inspectors and are investigating more than 100 in the death of Wei Wenhua, a 41-year-old construction company executive, Xinhua reported on Friday.

The swift action by officials reflects concerns that the incident could spark larger protests against authorities, whose heavy-handed approach often arouses resentment.

On Monday Wei happened on a confrontation in the central Chinese province of Hubei between city inspectors and villagers protesting over the dumping of waste near their homes.

A scuffle developed when residents tried to prevent trucks from unloading the rubbish, Xinhua said.

When Wei took out his cell phone to record the protest, more than 50 municipal inspectors turned on him, attacking him for five minutes, Xinhua said. Wei was dead on arrival at a Tianmen hospital, the report said.

Qi Zhengjun, chief of the urban administration bureau in the city of Tianmen, lost his job over the incident, Xinhua reported Friday.

The beating was condemned online. "It’s no longer news that urban administrators enforce the law with violence," said an editorial on the news Web site Northeast News, according to The Associated Press.
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"But now someone has been beaten to death on site. It has brought us not surprise, but unspeakable anger."

Chen Yizhong, a columnist on Xinhua’s Web site, asked why violence by city inspectors is allowed to continue. "Cities need administration, but urban administrators need to be governed by law first," he wrote.

An international press freedom group, Reporters Without Borders, protested the killing.

"Wei is the first ‘citizen journalist’ to die in China because of what he was trying to film," the group said in a statement.

"He was beaten to death for doing something which is becoming more and more common and which was a way to expose law-enforcement officers who keep on overstepping their limits."

Anson Chan was slammed in her legco debut in what was an apparent personal attack.

Chan was labeled a "sudden supporter for livelihood" after her maiden Legco speech on an innocuous social enterprise motion debate by the Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing who is also Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, i.e. very pro China.

Chan won in a landslide victory against pro-Beijing opponent Regina Ip which was an important victory needed for the democratic Camp in Hong Kong and is not without its detractors.

Mr. Tsang’s comments would have perhaps been better received if it wasn’t so obvious that he represented an opinion that was pro-Beijing and therefore labelled anti-democractic. This is a tactical and infantile blunder if the intent was to discredit Anson Chan because all it did was create more support for the need of a stronger democractic voice, most likely because Hong Kong Government that is very pro-Beijing fears the influence Ms. Chan has, and her landslide victory is a surprise for them.

It is hard to not imagine this as a concerted attempt by the Government to attack an influential pro-democrat, how silly.

A pregnant woman has complained to the Department of Health after being told she won’t be able to have her baby at Adventist Hospital in Hong Kong even though she had earlier been assured of a bed.

"The hospital had told my doctor that my booking was no problem," Ms Ip said. "That is why I had not booked with another hospital. I was shocked that the hospital turned me away."

She said the news had caused her and her family a great deal of stress.

"I’ve had insomnia since receiving the bad news. I had three weeks of depression when my daughter was born last year, now I am so worried that I can’t sleep well. I don’t know how to handle it," she said.

"It is a complete black-box operation. We don’t know why suddenly there is no place for local mothers. I suspect some of the places have been given to mainland mothers, because hospitals can earn more from them."

Ms Ip, 33, said she had saved for the past year to cover the HK$60,000 to HK$80,000 cost of having her baby at a private hospital.

She gave birth to a daughter last year at Adventist Hospital and said she preferred private hospitals because of better service and privacy.

"Some of my friends have had very bad experiences in public hospitals. There are no doctors to do the deliveries and when they were breastfeeding, several men just peeped through the curtains. They were very scared."

Ms Ip said the department had responded to her complaint, saying the hospital denied passing maternity bed places to mainland mothers.

"But I think it is an issue which demands serious concern," she said.

"I wonder why there is no policy in Hong Kong that hospitals should give priority to local mothers.

"It is our home and yet we cannot enjoy good services."

Get used to it, last I heard Hong Kong was part of China not the other way round. Local media reports this case as a concern and the whispers in town are that "Mainland mothers" are taking away space for local mothers. If Mainland mothers will pay more, then why is that a problem? I didn’t hear anyone complaining coming to Hong Kong and spending "Mainland money" in Hong Kong a few years ago. Mainland tourism is fueling the Hong Kong economy, you don’t get to pick and choose, without China would Hong Kong be as prosperous as they are today? This type of xenophobia is the reason why Hong Kong will not become an open society if we cannot even open our doors to our own!