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Friday, July 02, 2004 |
Throng marches for full democracy. HONG KONG -- Braving sweltering summer temperatures, hundreds of thousand of pro-democracy demonstrators marched through the heart of Hong Kong yesterday, demanding the right to elect their chief executive and all legislators through direct popular vote. [Boston Globe -- World News]
9:14:22 PM 
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Freedom or money?. Some 530,000 citizens of Hong Kong filled the streets on the hottest day of the year to protest the Communist regime's refusal to let them vote for their chief executive and legislature. The turnout was a quarter of a million more than anyone expected. The demonstration Thursday was on the anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, when the Communists made promises about the autonomy of the city-state that have not been kept. The communists are dismissing the demands for political freedom, saying that the citizens' real concern is the economy, and that with coming economic improvements the desire for democracy will die down. This has been the communists' plan for all of China, and it seems to be having some success. Still working out of the Marxist worldview that insists that all culture and all ideas are ultimately nothing more than economics, the regime has been promoting economic prosperity (even though this means instituting limited free market reforms) while cracking down on liberty. So far, this seems to be working. Will it for long? Which do you think people would rather have, freedom or money? Are there any lessons to be learned for Americans, as... [World Magazine Blog]
8:41:23 PM
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 8/2/2004; 9:22:33 AM
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