EricIsHim
August 8th, 2007, 06:59 PM
Hong Kong pro-Beijing politician dies
By DIKKY SINN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago
HONG KONG - Ma Lik, the head of Hong Kong's leading pro-Beijing political party who questioned whether China's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 should be called a massacre, died Wednesday, an official said. He was 55.
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Ma underwent surgery for colon cancer in 2004, but the party's Vice Chairman Tam Yiu-chung told reporters in Guangzhou that it had spread to his respiratory system. Local media reported that Ma had fallen into a coma, and Lam Yau-fa, a party official, said he died Wednesday afternoon.
Although he was not known as an outspoken pro-Beijing hard-liner, Ma triggered a major backlash in May when he disputed witness accounts of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, saying Chinese troops did not fire indiscriminately at demonstrators.
Ma had acknowledged his comments might have been "rash and frivolous," but insisted there was no massacre.
Journalists and other witnesses have said troops opened fire with machine guns and tanks ran over protesters, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands. Numerous news photos showed bloody bodies crumpled in the streets. The Chinese government maintains it quelled counterrevolutionary protests that threatened national security.
Hong Kongers are still sensitive about the crackdown, which occurred before the then-British colony's handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
Ma left for treatment in Guangzhou immediately after his Tiananmen Square comments, and did not return to Hong Kong.
He missed the festivities marking Hong Kong's 10th anniversary under Chinese rule, which were attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao, and his party's 15th anniversary celebration last month.
Ma took over the pro-Beijing party from Tsang Yok-sing after Tsang resigned in November 2003, when the party suffered its worst defeat in district council polls. He also served as a Hong Kong delegate to China's legislature, the National People's Congress.
By DIKKY SINN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago
HONG KONG - Ma Lik, the head of Hong Kong's leading pro-Beijing political party who questioned whether China's Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 should be called a massacre, died Wednesday, an official said. He was 55.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ma underwent surgery for colon cancer in 2004, but the party's Vice Chairman Tam Yiu-chung told reporters in Guangzhou that it had spread to his respiratory system. Local media reported that Ma had fallen into a coma, and Lam Yau-fa, a party official, said he died Wednesday afternoon.
Although he was not known as an outspoken pro-Beijing hard-liner, Ma triggered a major backlash in May when he disputed witness accounts of the June 4, 1989, crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, saying Chinese troops did not fire indiscriminately at demonstrators.
Ma had acknowledged his comments might have been "rash and frivolous," but insisted there was no massacre.
Journalists and other witnesses have said troops opened fire with machine guns and tanks ran over protesters, killing hundreds, perhaps thousands. Numerous news photos showed bloody bodies crumpled in the streets. The Chinese government maintains it quelled counterrevolutionary protests that threatened national security.
Hong Kongers are still sensitive about the crackdown, which occurred before the then-British colony's handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
Ma left for treatment in Guangzhou immediately after his Tiananmen Square comments, and did not return to Hong Kong.
He missed the festivities marking Hong Kong's 10th anniversary under Chinese rule, which were attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao, and his party's 15th anniversary celebration last month.
Ma took over the pro-Beijing party from Tsang Yok-sing after Tsang resigned in November 2003, when the party suffered its worst defeat in district council polls. He also served as a Hong Kong delegate to China's legislature, the National People's Congress.