Mutual admiration

The three crew members of the Shenzhou-9 manned space mission, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, attended a series of events non-stop over the weekend in Hong Kong. Their visit not only stoked renewed space fever in Hong Kong, but also boosted local residents' understanding of the nation and their sense of national identity. The astronauts' interactions with local residents are characterized by mutual admiration filled with true sentiment.

The country's astronauts occupy a special place in the hearts of Hong Kong residents. Back in 2003, when the city was fighting to survive the Asian financial turmoil and the SARS epidemic, Yang Liwei, the very first Chinese national in space, paid a visit here as a member of the Shenzhou-5 manned space mission delegation and boosted our confidence for mounting the charge to defeat the twin scourges and reviving the local economy.

This time the Shenzhou-9 manned space mission took place shortly before Hong Kong celebrated the 15th anniversary of the handover. Local residents watched live broadcasts of the whole process with great interest as well as pride every step of the way and hoped to meet the three astronauts after their safe return.

During their meetings with representatives of local primary and secondary school students and teachers, as well as those from the eight universities, the three astronauts shared many experiences from their 13-day experience in space and what they learned about life and success from a new perspective. They also encouraged the students to commit to pursuing their own goals and dreams.

Meanwhile, the three astronauts also expressed their admiration for Hong Kong during their stay. They observed Hong Kong from outer space more than once and found the Pearl of the Orient looked exceptionally beautiful when the spacecraft flew over the city during the day.

While here they were treated to a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour from the Peak on Hong Kong Island and were greatly impressed by the modern city. It was an inspiring experience for Hong Kong residents to see and to interact with the three Shenzhou-9 crew members in person and it will no doubt enhance their pride as Chinese nationals.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on Aug 13.

Dishonesty to cost DP dearly

The Democratic Party (DP) used to be No 1 in Hong Kong's political arena and held more than half of the opposition seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo). Today, however, the DP reveals merely a shadow of its mighty past. After its venerable party whip passed away a few years ago and with former pillars such as Cheng Ka-foo and To Kun-shun no longer highly motivated, only Ho Chun-yan and Lau Wai-hing are left to hold the party together, and just barely.

At times like this the right thing to do is for the party elders to pass on the leadership to the younger generation, but that is obviously not happening. Beside all that the DP is also frequently ambushed by radical opposition groups like the League of Social Democrats (LSD) and People Power (PP). It is fair to say the DP is suffering internally as well as externally.

It is very hard for the opposition to wrest votes from the pro-government side in the LegCo elections, but it is absolutely possible for the DP to bite the dust this time as a result of opposition infighting led by the Civic Party and surprise attacks by the LSD and PP. To turn the situation around, the DP usually resorts to smear campaign against its rivals and/or the SAR government.

There is no limit to how far down it will go to dig up dirt, even if it's 20-plus years old and even if not very damning. Unfortunately for the DP, others will definitely fight back the same way. Ho and fellow DP lawmaker Lee Wing-tat now find themselves roiled in scandals one after another.

The scandals leave the DP's leading core members under fire for questioning others' integrity while hiding their own "dirty laundry". Their attempts at damage control have failed so far and there is much more to it than meets the eye in terms of "dirt" within the opposition camp. That proves they cannot be trusted, period.

The author is a current affairs commentator. This is an excerpted translation of his commentary published in Ta Kung Pao on Aug 13.

(HK Edition 08/14/2012 page3)