New tensions over a Wuerkaixi return
Given the tension in Xinjiang following the bloody ethnic clashes, it seems like this is a bad time for Wuerkaixi, a Uygur dissident, to contemplate a return to the mainland. But that's just what the Tiananmen Square protest leader is considering as a follow-up to his failed bid to enter Macau on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the June 4 crackdown. We hear friends are telling him the trip is a bad idea. The concerns are not so much about what might happen to the defiant activist (he said during his failed Macau entry bid he wanted to be 'extradited' to the mainland to face the music there). Rather, his friends are worried his attempt could prove to be a setback for their campaign to vindicate the 1989 protesters. Wuerkaixi has been outspoken in condemning Beijing's handling of the riots, expressing 'pain' that he cannot be in Urumqi with his parents at this time. June 4 activists are nervous that putting Wuerkaixi in the middle of the situation could give Beijing an excuse to label their efforts as supporting Xinjiang independence.
Long Hair quick to snuff out rumours
These days there's no smoke without fire - or at least ire - in the legislators' offices at government headquarters in Central. 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung is fuming over accusations that he is the culprit who prompted the Legco Secretariat to issue a 'reminder' to all legislators that smoking is banned in the building. The radical lawmaker - known to be as fond of a puff as he is of breaking the rules - insists he has strictly followed the no-smoking policy, and no complaints have been put forward that he has been lighting up in his office. Perhaps not - a Legco insider tells Political Animal that the memo was in fact prompted by a complaint from an aide of one lawmaker about an aide of another. But people with sensitive noses who frequent the corridors of power say tobacco smoke can be smelled on the third floor - which happens to be where Mr Leung has his office. Just a coincidence of course.
Democrats mull guerilla tactics
Widely seen at first as a joke, the call by the League of Social Democrats for lawmakers to give up their seats as part of the fight for universal suffrage may be gaining some traction. After the government comes up with a constitutional reform scheme later this year, the league wants pan-democrats to select one lawmaker from each directly elected seat to resign then contest the resulting by-elections as a kind of referendum on the proposals. The maverick group, which has three lawmakers, threatened earlier this month to break with its allies if they did not back its plan. Now Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan has conceded they might be on to something. 'The league has a point. Our party will seriously consider it some time this summer,' he said. If the flagship pro-democracy party is coming round, will others be far behind? Watch this space.
