Climbdown of the Week

Residents of Hong Kong may not be able to "recall" their top government leader as Californians can. (And that's probably a good thing.) But they were stunned last week to find they had accomplished something previously unheard of in China: making a Mandarin back down because he was afraid of losing upcoming elections.

LATEST COVER STORY
The Saudis: Inside the Kingdom
September 15, 2003 Issue
 

ASIA
 Nepal: On the Brink
 Interview: Nepal's PM
 Bombay: House of Terror?
 Essay: Overcoming 9/11


ARTS
 Film: Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi
 Meet the Beat: Filmography



BUSINESS
 Essay: No Trade War, Please!


NOTEBOOK
 Philippines: Arroyo's Woes
 Hong Kong: Climbdown
 Milestones
 Verbatim
 Letters


TRAVEL
 India: Top Spot for High Tea


CNN.com: Top Headlines
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced on Friday that he was shelving a proposed set of statutes on subversion, secession and sedition that he had tried railroading through earlier this year—until 500,000 Hong Kongers took to the streets on July 1 to protest. Tung wouldn't say when he might reintroduce the bills, or even whether he expects to pass them before his second term ends in 2007.

Beijing almost certainly gave Tung the nod on his decision: its main concern was that anti-Tung (or anti-Beijing) parties might dominate the September 2004 elections for the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's lawmaking body. Hong Kong has given Beijing an unexpected lesson in Politics 101.