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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2016
WORLD P E O P L E ’ S D A I LY C O M M E N T S
‘Advocates of Hong Kong independence not qualified for office’ SHANGHAI: People who advocate Hong Kong independence are in violation of the territory’s laws and China’s constitution, and are not qualified to stand for public office, the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s top newspaper said on Saturday. The comments in the People’s Daily come ahead of what is expected to effectively be a ruling by Beijing on the fate of two newly elected Hong Kong legislators who pledged allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” and displayed a “Hong Kong is not China” banner when they attempted to take office in October. Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese control in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that gave the territory wide-ranging autonomy, including judicial freedom. The oath-taking incident made waves in the former colony, where the topic of independence from China was once regarded as taboo but has come to the fore since months of pro-democracy protests in 2014 failed to secure any
concessions from Beijing. State news agency Xinhua said on Saturday that leaders of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, had begun to review a “draft interpretation” of part of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, over the weekend. The article requires Hong Kong legislators and other officials to swear allegiance to “the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China” when assuming office. The parliamentary meeting ends on Monday, Xinhua said. The People’s Daily editorial said calls for independence by the Hong Kong lawmakers-elect and others were an insult to China and violation of the national constitution and the Basic Law. Such action “seriously touches the bottom line of ‘one country, two systems’, endangers national unity, territorial integrity and national security, jeopardises the nation’s core interests and the basic interests of the majority of Hong Kong residents, and is vile in nature,” it said.
“The heart of the issue is that anyone who splits the nation or promotes ‘Hong Kong independence’ is directly violating the constitution, the Basic Law and related Hong Kong laws, and is unqualified to stand for election or hold public office provided for in the Basic Law,” the newspaper added. An interpretation of the Basic Law by the NPC Standing Committee would be completely legal, “extremely timely, extremely necessary, of great importance and have far-reaching effect”, it said. The NPC Standing Committee has interpreted the Basic Law four times since 1997, including once when neither the city government nor its courts requested it. After the abortive swearing-in of Yau Wai-ching, 25, and Baggio Leung, 30, Hong Kong’s chief executive filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to prevent another ceremony for them taking place. Hong Kong’s High Court struck down that request but approved a judicial review of the pair’s membership of the legislature. — Reuters
PRO-DEMOCRACY LAWMAKERS: Newly elected lawmakers Yau Wai-ching, 25, left, and Baggio Leung, 30, right, hold a press conference at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, on Friday. – AFP
Detained Philippine mayor killed in prison shootout The shootout took place after Espinosa and inmate Raul Yap fired at a team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who was on a mission to serve a search warrant against the detainees for firearms and illegal drugs. The presidential palace described Espinosa’s death as ‘unfortunate’
Rolando Espinosa, mayor of Albuera town in Leyte, turned himself in to the national police chief in August over his involvement in the drug trade
MANILA: A mayor on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of top drugs suspects was killed during a shootout at a prison on Saturday, police said, in the latest high-profile killing in his bloody war on narcotics. Rolando Espinosa, mayor of Albuera town in central Leyte province, turned himself in to the national police chief in August after Duterte asked him and his son, Kerwin, to surrender over their involvement in the drug trade. Espinosa was later allowed to go home but on October 5 was arrested on charges of illegal possession of drugs and firearms. He is the second local government executive on Duterte’s so-called “narco-list” killed during police operations. The shootout took place after Espinosa and inmate Raul Yap fired at a team from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group who was on a mission to serve a search warrant against the detainees for firearms and illegal drugs, police said. “As a matter of procedure, this incident will undergo investigation to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident,” Eastern Visayas Regional Police Chief Superinten-
ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN: Leyte Albuera Mayor Ronaldo Espinosa, left, talking to Philippine Na-
tional Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa, right, at Camp Crame in Manila, on August 2, 2016. – AFP File
dent Elmer Beltejar said. Some lawmakers expressed alarm over the killing of Espinosa inside his detention cell, with the chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, Senator Richard Gordon, describing it as a “slap in the face” of the country’s criminal justice system. Gordon said he may file a resolution to look into such drug-related killings, while Senator Panfilo Lacson was quoted by local media as saying that Espinosa’s death was “a clear case of EJK (extrajudicial killing).” “There’s got to be a lot of questions that must be answered,” Gordon said in an interview with news channel ANC. Police said they recovered a .45 caliber pistol and a .38 Super pistol from the cells of Yap and Espinosa. A small sachet containing suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were also
found inside Espinosa’s cell, police said. The presidential palace described Espinosa’s death as “unfortunate” and said an investigation was ongoing. Espinosa had publicly denied any part in the drug trade but said his son was peddling “shabu” (methamphetamine), which he gets from a jailed Chinese drug trader. Espinosa’s son, Kerwin, was arrested by Abu Dhabi police last month, according to Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa. In October, Samsudin Dimaukom, a powerful mayor in Duterte’s troubled home province of Mindanao, was also killed along with nine of his guards in a shootout, according to police. More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign since Duterte took office on
June 30. Duterte said on Friday his war on drugs had cut back the supply to “very low” levels and thanked China for supporting his crackdown, but swore repeatedly at ally the United States for criticising it. Duterte said his campaign against drugs had successfully reduced the narcotics flow, but conceded there were signs that criminals had now turned to kidnapping, another problem he planned to tackle. “There is a very low supply of drugs now. But, there is a shift to kidnapping by these idiots,” he said during a televised speech. “This is a new game, so be careful. Give me time to talk to God.” The crime-busting former mayor of the once lawless Davao City said last week he had spoken to God and promised him he would no longer use bad language. But his vow has not held long.
On Friday, he got angry again at former colonial power Washington for its concerns about alleged summary killings and contrasted its stance with that of China, which has funded a huge drugs rehabilitation centre. As a provincial outsider in May’s presidential election, Duterte used his brashness and profanity to enhance his public appeal. Dubbed “the punisher” and “Duterte Harry”, he was elected by a big margin. That was aided by the promise of a drugs war, which has killed over 2,300 people in four months. Duterte on Friday homed in on Human Rights Watch, which he said was attacking him to justify a $100 million, 10-year grant philanthropist George Soros promised it six years ago. “This Human Rights Watch of New York, that belongs to Soros. Soros was the financier. That’s him. It’s his grant,” he said. — Reuters
AUSTRALIA
Far-right groups protest against plan to house Syrian refugees MELBOURNE: Several hundred people rallied in the suburbs of Melbourne on Saturday, after a proposal to house refugees locally drew protest by far right groups and counter protests. Political debate around Australia’s hardline policy towards asylum seekers has been heated recently, with the conservative government last week announcing plans to permanently ban asylum seekers who attempted to reach Australia by boat from permanently entering under any visa category. Dozens of people belonging to the hardline groups rallied on Saturday against a proposal to house 120 refugees from Syria and Iraq, at a housing facility for elderly citizens in the Melbourne suburb of Eltham. “They (the elderly citizens) are a bit concerned about it but they will just wait and see,” John Conroy a resident of the aged-care facility said. Counter rally A heavy police presence separated the group from more than 100 people rallying in favour of the proposal. Previous protests between antiimmigration and pro-immigration groups have led to violent clashes. Australia’s current policy of sending asylum seekers who arrive in Australian waters by boat offshore to Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where their status as refugees is confirmed or rejected, has bipartisan support in the Australian parliament. On the rise Last year the government announced a one-off intake of 12,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Iraq and Syria, saying that ethnic minorities from those countries would be given priority. Far right political parties are on the rise in Australia, with the controversial One Nation party surprising many by winning four Senate seats at the country’s national elections in July. — Reuters
FUNDING CLAIMS
Malayisa’s ‘Red Shirts’ protest against media group KUALA LUMPUR: Several hundred pro-government demonstrators protested outside the office of a media group on Saturday, calling for it to be shut down after reports that it received funds from an organisation linked to business tycoon George Soros. The largely Malay group, which calls itself “Red Shirts”, has alleged that foreign funds received by the popular news portal, Malaysiakini, was to be used to influence the next general election with an aim to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government. The protest is expected to be dwarfed by a massive rally planned by democracy group Bersih on November 19, which will call for the resignation of Najib over corruption allegations. Dressed in red shirts, the demonstrators were
chanting “close down, close down! close down Malaysiakini!”. “We don’t want outside interference in our country,” said Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos, who is also a member of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party. Over a hundred riot police officers were stationed in and around the Malaysiakini offices. The controversy erupted after whistleblower site DC leaks revealed documents that allegedly showed Open Society Foundations (OSF), founded by Soros, was funding local organisations to influence the outcome of the next general election that is due to be called by 2018. Malaysiakini and other organisations such as Bersih were linked to funds from OSF. Malaysiakini has said the funds from OSF were only used to pro-
duce more stories on Sarawak, and constituted a small portion of its revenue. Editor-in-chief Steven Gan told a news conference after the protesters dispersed that none of its shareholders or funders had any influence over editorial policy. “You can ask any of our journalists or editors... that’s completely impossible,” he said. He added that he didn’t think there was any law that would enable the government to shut them down. Jamal had earlier vowed to “tear down” the offices of Malaysiakini by gathering more than 20,000 protesters. “The threats against Malaysiakini are the latest instance of the right to freedom of expression coming under attack in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday. — Reuters
CALLING FOR SHUT DOWN: Malay ‘red shirt’ supporters demonstrate outside the office of popular on-
line news portal Malaysiakini in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. – AFP