Word: basic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...what will Beijing say about direct elections? Hong Kong got an early telegraphing from its own government, which last week announced its conclusions from a three-month study of the issue. The good news for democracy advocates was that the government agrees that the Basic Law allows direct elections as early as 2007, which was uncertain from the way the document is worded...
...What does this mean for one country, two systems? The Basic Law is the foundation for that experiment; an "interpretation" demonstrates that Beijing has no hesitation in rejigging the rules. Says Martin Lee, founder of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong: "They want to say, 'Now you know who the boss is: Beijing. We know you don't like us, but we will do it anyway and you can't do anything.' They want to show Hong Kong people that their system is dominant and ours subservient. Democracy is out for the foreseeable future...
...could write their delegates to the National People's Congress. (Hong Kong has 36.) In contrast with the rest of the nation, Hong Kong people can vote for like-minded legislators in the few elections already allowed, march in the streets, even burn effigies of Chinese leaders. Under the Basic Law and the territory's own statutes?in other words, thanks to the "one country, two systems" formula?those are their rights. Until, that is, someone in Beijing decides to do some more "interpretation...
Students who pass reading tests, have fewer than 20 days of unexcused absences and score at least in the 35th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills pass automatically. Most will not be forced to repeat the same grade more than twice in elementary school, but those whose test scores fall below a certain level will be required to take remedial courses. The new policy is bolstered by an independent study--due for release April 6--conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. According to a school-board summary of its findings, which...
...regime. When Baghdad fell on April 9, Sadr was first out of the blocks in the race to build a power base in the Shiite community. Within weeks, Baghdad's Shiite neighborhood had been renamed Sadr City, and clerics loyal to Moqtada had organized security, suppressing looting and restoring basic services...