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Tag: Donald Tsang

China spurns three times Aquino’s request for one-on-one meeting

Published by Ellen on November 28, 2010

Update from ABS-CBN: Hong Kong will hold a public inquest into the Manila bus hijacking crisis which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August, a spokeswoman for the coroner’s court said Wednesday.

The inquest is scheduled to last 25 days starting from February 14, she told AFP, less than a month after Hong Kong police concluded their probe into the poorly-handled fiasco which dented relations between Manila and Hong Kong.

East Asian leaders meeting in Hanoi. China's Wen Jiabao was there but no one-on-one meeting with Aquino
Malacañang last Friday said the planned high-level Philippine delegation to Hongkong and Beijing to present and discuss the Aug 23 tragedy will no longer push through.

The announcement, made by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda confirmed what had been talked about in the diplomatic circle : the Philippines had been told by China unofficially that they would not welcome the delegation as long as they don’t see anybody being made accountable for the tragedy that killed eight of their people.

Lacierda, who was supposed to be part of the delegation together with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, said, “The Chinese foreign ministry could not schedule us.”

Continue readingChina spurns three times Aquino’s request for one-on-one meeting

Unending confusion

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2010

Our efforts to get clarification on why Hongkong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was not able to talk with President Aquino during last Monday’s hostage-taking crisis has led us to more confusion.

In his press conference Monday evening, after eight of the 22 Hongkong nationals on a sightseeing visit to the Philippines ended up dead when a dismissed policemen held them hostage for 12 hours, Tsang said “since 4pm” he had been trying to call up Aquino “but all efforts failed.”

The tragedy has resulted in diplomatic fall-outs. The Philippine consulate in Hongkong has been a scene of emotional protests from Hongkong nationals. Philippine Airlines and Manila hotels have reported cancellation of tourists reservations.

Beijing has refused to receive the top-level delegation (Vice President Jejomar Binay, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, and Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda) being sent by Aquino until such time that investigation on the tragedy is completed.

Continue readingUnending confusion

Hong Kong leader Tsang’s phone calls stopped with President Aquino’s aides

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2010

Update: Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma issued the following statement on Inquirer’s story on his statement re President Aquino’s failure to take HK’s Donald Tsang’s call last Monday. See story in the comments:

The headline of this story is not correct.

When I was interviewed over ABS-CBN this morning, I did not state nor imply any “doubts (that the) HK chief called (President) Aquino during (the) hostage crisis” last Monday, August 23.

The report quotes me as having said, “Di kapanipaniwala yan dahil ‘accessible’ siya sa lahat ng oras.” (That is unbelievable because the President is accessible all the time).

What I referred to as being unbelievable was the claim published in earlier newspaper reports that President Aquino was “inaccessible” at that time.

The following story came out in the South China Morning Post today, Aug. 26, 2010:

[Raissa’s note: I am posting this with the permission of my editor. Just to clarify, I did talk to foreign affairs spokesman Ed Malaya to get the department perspective but he declined to comment. ]

It was the case of the telephone calls that didn’t get through.

An anxious Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was never put through to Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday. Despite at least two phone calls, Aquino’s aides did not tell their head of state that Hong Kong’s leader needed to speak to him.

This is how it all started:

It is 4pm – the hostage crisis has lasted for more than five hours. Tsang, watching the drama unfold on television, is desperate to contact the new Philippines leader.

Continue readingHong Kong leader Tsang’s phone calls stopped with President Aquino’s aides

Making up to Hongkong (subtitle:Donald Tsang who?)

Published by Ellen on August 24, 2010

Donald Tsang
President Aquino yesterday called up Donald Tsang, chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, to personally express his condolences to the families of eight Hongkong residents who died last Monday in Manila after they were held hostage by a dismissed policeman while on a sightseeing tour.

Malacañang also said they will be sending a high-level delegation to Hongkong to meet with Tsang, who had demanded a “full account” of last Monday tragedy.

Hongkong newspapers carried Tsang’s statement saying Monday, he had been trying to contact Aquino “since 4pm ..but all efforts failed.” He said the way the Aquino government handled the hostage situation was “regrettable” and “disappointing.”

Told about Tsang’s statement, Aquino said he did not know about Tsang’s call and that nobody told him about it.

Inquiries about the incident revealed that while the hostage situation was going on, Aquino was closely monitoring it, and he was talking with police authorities constantly. He told his staff that he won’t be taking any calls unless it’s extremely important.

Continue readingMaking up to Hongkong (subtitle:Donald Tsang who?)