 Hong Kong leadership hopeful pledges to heal city's 'heartache' Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 16, 2017 - Hong Kong's tough former deputy leader Carrie Lam, widely seen as China's favourite in an upcoming election for the top post, pledged Monday to end the divided city's "heartache" as she announced her candidacy. Lam was deputy to the unpopular current chief executive Leung Chun-ying until she resigned to contest the poll, but is a less disliked figure. Leung is vilified by the city's pro-democracy camp as a puppet of Beijing squeezing the semi-autonomous city's freedoms. Hong Kong has become sharply polarised during his four-year term, which has been marked by anti-Beijing protests. Speaking for the first time to confirm her candidacy for the leadership vote in March, Lam was repeatedly asked if she would be another version of Leung, as some critics fear. She said she would try to build consensus and "restore faith and hope". "In recent years, some situations have emerged in Hong Kong that have made people very concerned and worried, sometimes even caused heartache," Lam, 59, told reporters. "Like many of you I am worried about the discontent," she added, saying her supporters believed she had the ability to "resolve Hong Kong's deep contradictions". But Lam, who spent 36 years in government, stopped short of acknowledging the discord between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy supporters, saying the public was more concerned about income inequality and sky-high housing costs. "While democracy is something we should go for, we have to take a very pragmatic stance on whether we have the right environment for us to revive the discussion on another political reform in Hong Kong," she said. Also poised to announce his candidacy is former finance secretary John Tsang. Opinion polls show him and Lam well ahead in opinion polls, with two other candidates trailing far behind. But the public will not vote for the next leader following the rejection of political reforms put forward by Beijing. The next leader will instead be chosen by a committee of 1,200 mainly pro-Beijing representatives. Lam had presented the reform package, seen by critics as fake democracy, which triggered mass street protests in Hong Kong in late 2014. The plan offered the public its first chance to vote for the city's leader but said all candidates must be approved by a loyalist committee. The package was eventually voted down by pro-democracy lawmakers. Political analyst Willy Lam said Lam was unlikely to touch on political reform until later in her tenure if she wins. He said she needed to "build bridges" with the pro-democracy camp and show she was not afraid of confronting Beijing.
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Taiwanese authorities said Monday they were probing criminal gang links to a pro-China protest which targeted Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and rebel legislators in Taiwan.
The activists were visiting to attend a forum aimed at linking democracy movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan earlier this month. They were blasted by pro-China groups on the island as promoting a joint independence movement.
Although Taiwan is self-ruling, it has never formally declared independence from Beijing, and China considers it part of its territory.
The forum was organised by Taiwan's New Power Party, which advocates for recognition of Taiwan as a nation.
The Hong Kong campaigners were greeted at Taipei airport by 200 protesters, with scuffles occurring after six broke through a police line protecting the activists.
Prosecutors told AFP Monday they were probing whether there were gang links.
Chang Wei, son of former gang leader Chang An-lo, known as "White Wolf", has been questioned over the clashes and barred from leaving Taiwan pending further investigation.
The senior Chang, who headed the Bamboo Union Gang, now leads a small pro-unification party that regularly organises rallies in support of Beijing.
Police confirmed that Chen Tzu-chun, a leader of the Four Seas Gang, is also under investigation over the protests. He remains in custody over a number of cases.
Speaking to the Liberty Times, Taiwan police chief Chen Kuo-en said two gangs had participated in the demonstrations.
"The police will not tolerate ... this kind of interference," Chen said.
The Four Seas and Bamboo Union are among Taiwan's biggest criminal gangs, known for their involvement in smuggling and gambling.
Chang An-lo has openly supported politicians from the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party, while Four Seas members were previously accused of attacking a pro-independence politician.
Legislator Nathan Law, one of the group to visit Taiwan, was also attacked when he returned to Hong Kong as demonstrators threw liquid and tried to hit him.
Law, 23, who advocates self-determination for Hong Kong, said those attacks were also an example of "gangster politics" and accused the Chinese Communist Party of trying to suppress democratic movements.
Beijing has grown increasingly incensed over pro-independence calls from young activists in Hong Kong.
Chinese authorities have also been ratcheting up pressure on Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen as she refuses to acknowledge the concept there is only "one China."
Last week China's only aircraft carrier proceeded slowly through the Taiwan Strait in what was seen as a show of strength as tensions escalate.
The drills came as a heated war of words intensified between Beijing and US President-elect Donald Trump, who broke convention by speaking directly to Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen and even suggested Washington could jettison its decades-old "one China" policy.
Despite not having official diplomatic ties since it recognised Beijing in 1979, the US is Taiwan's most powerful ally and arms supplier.
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