2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Actions and comments of the pro-democracy camp
Maria Tam said an uprising usually refers to overthrowing the government through violence, and Former Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung warned of anarchy. Ip Kwok-him, Deputy Chairman of the DAB, said the slogan was seditious; but Audrey Eu said it was an attempt to intimidate the Hong Kong people. Eu said that the 4 Chinese characters do not refer to a violent revolution and that the resignation is not a ploy to seek independence of Hong Kong; Wong Yuk-man emphasised it as a "peaceful uprising".


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Actions and comments of the pro-democracy camp
Gordon Wu said the Civic Party and the LSD were destabilising Hong Kong by resigning, and likened the call for people to rise up to action taken by red guards during the Cultural Revolution. Wu said: "Uprising is something very thrilling - although we have not reached the stage of armed struggle." Organisers for the resigners dismissed the criticism as tactics aimed at dampening turnout for the by-elections.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Actions and comments of the pro-democracy camp
A pan-democracy gathering held in Central on 27 January 2010 was attended by approximately 4,000 people, according to organisers; police gave the number at 1,900. The group also used a song from cantopop group Beyond to sing about freedom. At one point they chanted repeatedly "Uprising, uprising, uprising...", while Albert Chan shouted to the crowd loudly "Liberate Hong Kong" (解放香港).


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Actions and comments of the pro-democracy camp
Civic Party's Alan Leong, celebrating his birthday on a street election campaign, said he was disappointed by several public remarks by Stephen Lam regarding the by-elections. Leong said Lam's remarks were a clear indication that the government had lost its supposedly neutral stance. In March, the LSD published an open letter condemning Ronny Tong for betraying his fellow pan-democrats (and not supporting the referendum plan), and bitterly attacked him personally. The Standard said the LSD was "doing its very best to rile Tong to create an imagery of confrontation between referendum advocates and pan-democratic moderates" in order to rekindle media interest.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Actions and comments of the pro-democracy camp
Democratic Party former leader Szeto Wah, Albert Ho and Martin Lee urged their supporters to vote in the by election; Lee said a blank vote it was preferable to no vote.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Student actions
A democracy protest organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Students supported by 200 people took place on 28 March 2010 from University of Hong Kong campus to the government offices in Central. The protesters called for abolition of functional constituencies, blaming them for social inequalities. They also want real universal suffrage by 2012. There was also a minor confrontation between some protesters and police; one protester was arrested.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Student actions
Students from the different HK universities formed a group called Tertiary 2012 (T12), and declared their aim to raise HK$250,000 to field one candidate for each vacant seat. The group, which have no formal alliance with other political parties, raised the necessary deposit from Internet donations and submitted their nomination papers on 1 April. The candidates all endorsed the cause of the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats, but their platform consists of continuing to press for universal suffrage in both the chief executive and Legislative Council elections in 2012.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, said he might not vote and called the by-elections a "drama"  during an interview with South China Morning Post.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
I have been exercising my right to vote all my life, but on this occasion, I have to think hard on what I need to do...I have not made up my mind yet... This (by-election)is deliberately engineered through resignation and re-election of the same people in order to introduce what they call a so-called referendum... It is a completely different texture altogether... We must understand this very carefully, so I have to think very hard about my position. ... My duty is to the people.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
Audrey Eu said that Tsang's remarks were inappropriate, and that judging from the Beijing's heavy-handed reactions, the de facto referendum would be a success. Wong Yuk-man, of the League of Social Democrats said any Tsang boycott may spark a bigger turnout at the polls. Ronny Tong asked whether Tsang had broken the law by declaring he might not vote.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
Secretary for Home Affairs, Tsang Tak-sing refused to make open his intention to vote or not, citing his reason as not knowing who would be the candidates, but admitted he would make a decision on whether to vote according to the government's political stance, branding the by-election a grave political incident and saying that government officials must have team spirit and act consistently.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
Posters and banners for the by-election were a dull brown and pink, as a contrast to the orange and red of 2007, and lacked the incitement to vote. Stephen Lam said the government was fulfilling its duty to remind the 3.3 million voters to vote, but added: "We have already said the by-elections are unnecessary and the public has strong views about the HK$150 million cost."


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Hong Kong Government officials
Professor Lau Siu-kai, the head of the Central Policy Unit and the government's chief adviser, said the unit had conducted three surveys since the resignation, all of which consistently showed that more than half the 1,000 respondents polled opposed the 'referendum' campaign. Campaign organisers rejected Lau's claim, saying he famously underestimated attendance at the on 1 July 2003 protest march at 30,000.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Chinese officials
CPC Hong Kong liaison office head Peng Qinghua responded to the referendum by saying, "There are political groups that have launched the so-called 'five constituencies referendum campaign,' even proposing sensational and extreme slogans like 'civic uprising' and 'liberating Hong Kong. This is a total violation of mainstream public opinion that wants stability, harmony and development."


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Response from Chinese officials
A Taipei Times editorial said it was inappropriate to use "stability, harmony, development" to justify the lack of democracy in the already stable, harmonious and developed Hong Kong. It was further said that it was even more ironic that Beijing claimed to know "mainstream public opinion" before a referendum has even been held.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Boycott
In late January Miriam Lau (Liberal Party) said her party would work closely with DAB to field candidates in the by-elections. James Tien and his brother Michael indicated their interest, but DAB vice-chairman Ip Kwok-him said there were divergent views within his party and that they would only take part in the by-elections if they are not seen as a referendum.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Boycott
Placed in a dilemma by the resignations and the subsequent statements from central government politicians, pro-government politicians could not contest the polls for fear of being seen by Beijing to condone the "unconstitutional act", they thus all planned to boycott it. Tam Yiu-chung, Chairman of the DAB, criticised the by-election as "a farce... It's a waste of taxpayers' money... It promotes social conflict..."


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Boycott
Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced, two days before polling day and after weeks of speculation, that he and his ministers would not vote in the by-elections. He said: "In view of the unique nature of this by-election and after careful consideration, I have decided not to vote in this by-election. All members of my political team share this view and, of their own accord, have also decided not to vote." He also said the government would seek to amend the election law to prevent such abuse in future.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Post resignation, Boycott
Also breaking with tradition, Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Mr Justice Barnabas Fung refused to appeal to the electorate to vote, as a further sign that the government was trying actively to dampen the election atmosphere.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Pre-election events
On 2 May, about 3,000 people participated in a March for universal suffrage starting from Victoria Park; Tanya Chan publicly said that she would not marry until HK gets universal suffrage. At a radio forum Commercial Radio held on 13 May about Sunday's by-election, candidate Lam Yi-lai accused Paul Tse of indecently assaulting her; she filed a complaint to the police.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Pre-election events
Two days before polling day, 700 people attended a rally in Centenary Garden, Tsim Sha Tsui organised by the LSD and the Civic Party to urge people to vote. They said a higher turnout would place greater pressure on the government and Beijing to allow Hong Kong full democracy.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Results
Only 17.1% of HK's registered voters cast ballots, as compared to the record of 45.2% for the 2008 legco election. The total number of votes counted was 572,521. Albert Chan, LSD, who made the "Liberate Hong Kong" (解放香港) comment, made the strongest showing.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Results
A professor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology stated that the fact that 24% of voters were under 30 years of age, as compared to the 20 to 29 age group making up only 14% of the population, showed keenness to participate in politics. The under-30 age group were active as volunteers at all polling stations.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Attempts at "plugging the loophole"
In mid-May 2011, the government, which considered the resignations leading to de facto referendum 'abusive' and a waste of resources, revealed its plan to do away with by-elections entirely. Unveiling the proposal, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam cited the practice elsewhere: "In some countries where the proportional representation (PR) system is adopted, by-elections are not used to fill vacant seats arising mid-term."


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Attempts at "plugging the loophole"
According to the plan, a Legislative Council seat in any geographical constituency or one of the five newly created district council 'superconstituencies' vacated by the resignation or death of a legislator would be filled by a 'leapfrog' mechanism by the next best placed candidate at the previous election. The plan attracted criticism from Pan-Democrats; even pro-government figures in the legislature expressed reservations about the workability of the plan.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Attempts at "plugging the loophole"
A researcher in Britain's Electoral Reform Society said it was indeed common for vacancies to be filled by a candidate who was next-in-line, but one who was on the specific list of the outgoing. He said that the proposal meant that a seat held by a small party (without a list) would automatically go to another party if its representative resigned or died, thereby entirely losing representation.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Attempts at "plugging the loophole"
The Bar Association issued four strongly worded public warnings within two weeks of the first announcement of the plan, expressing concern over the constitutionality of the proposals, particularly the reasonableness on restrictions on the right to participation. Academics echoed the sentiments, and also brought to light the possibility, albeit slim, that the new mechanism may abet assassinations.


2010 Hong Kong by-elections, Attempts at "plugging the loophole"
The government tabled a bill to amend current legislation for by-elections for 13 July. However, by late June, the bill's future looked in doubt when the Central Government Liaison Office suggested a re-think. On 28 June, the government revised its proposal stipulating replacement by an unsuccessful candidate on the same election ticket. Whilst pro-government legislators declared support for the revised plan in principle, Regina Ip stated that consultation would still be desirable. The government bowed to pressure and announced one week later that it would suspend reading of the bill for two months, pending consultations on the revised proposals.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests
The 2010 Hong Kong democracy protests reflected the growing force of the pro-democracy movement in the region, and were sparked by events that year including electoral reforms and the arrest of a high-profile Chinese activist, Liu Xiaobo. The democracy movements of 2010 can be seen as a precursor to the events of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Historical context, The Basic Law
Hong Kong, as a former British colony, was reunified with mainland China in 1997 under the concept of "One country, two systems". While originally a concept with no legal power, a committee consisting of 59 members from different backgrounds and industries joined together after the signing of Sino-British Joint Declaration to create the basic laws of the new Hong Kong under China based on the ideas stipulated in the Declaration and thus gave national legitimacy to the concept. Effective 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was to be treated as fully autonomous from mainland China. This is followed in the Declaration by the promise that "[Hong Kong] will remain unchanged for 50 years", until 2047.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Historical context, Democracy in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's chief executive is chosen by an 800-member committee, while its legislature of 60 is half elected and half chosen by interest groups called functional constituencies, While a democratic style of government election is promised in Hong Kong's constitution, China ruled in 2007 that Hong Kong cannot directly elect a leader until 2017 and its legislature until 2020.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, New Year protest
According to figured offered by the Hong Kong police, 9000 people marched to Beijing's representative office. Organizers claim that more than 30,000 protesters turned up to reignite the democracy movement at times when locals were preoccupied with economic issues. A diverse group of organisations joined the march but largely aligned themselves with three headline causes: 'true' universal suffrage, abolition of the small-circle functional constituencies, and freedom for Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo. The exception was protesters opposing the location of a Hong Kong connection to the Mainland's national high-speed rail network through a New Territories village.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, New Year protest
Protesters carried out colourful banners such as "Democracy Now!" Some demonstrators held aloft portraits of Liu Xiaobo, demanding the release of the prominent writer and activist. Hundreds of police erected steel barricades and with minor scuffles when they tried to prevent a small number of protesters from storming the office. New year marches are a fixture on the political calendar in Hong Kong.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, 2 May protest
More than 3000 people marched from Victoria Park to the Central Government Offices to demand full democracy in Hong Kong in the 2 May Protest. In January 2010, the Five Constituencies Referendum triggered a by-election when five pan-democrats stepped down. The protest happened a couple of weeks before the scheduled by-election on 16 May 2010, during which few politicians tried to turn it into a referendum on political reform that unsurprisingly failed.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, 1 July protest
1 July protests are annual protest rallies originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front. The holiday commemorates the day of handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997 and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The 1 July march in 2010 was the first public march for democracy in Hong Kong after the unprecedented acceptance by Beijing of a limited democratic reform proposal by the Democratic Party under a document titled the 'Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012'.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, 1 July protest
While this was seen by a step forward for Hong Kong, many were disappointed in the pan-democracy camp for going back on their word to settle for something less than pure universal suffrage. As a result, approximately 52,000 people took part in the protest. An anniversary parade was organised by opposition pro-government groups, attended by 2000 people. Several hundred democratic party members faced verbal abuse and chants such as "shame on you" and "you betrayed Hong Kong's people" throughout the march to the Hong Kong government headquarters for selling out to Beijing.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, League of Social Democrats and the Civic Party resignation
In 10 January, five legislators from the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats, one from each of Hong Kong's electoral districts resigned their seats as a part of the ‘Five Constituencies Resignation’ concept for meaningful political reform. Albert Chan, Alan Leong, Tanya Chan, "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung, and Wong Yuk-man resigned from the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. The intention was to trigger by-elections by pitting pro-democracy candidates against pro-China ones in hopes for a de facto referendum on full democracy. However, the Basic Law of Hong Kong does not provide for official referenda.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Events, League of Social Democrats and the Civic Party resignation
Their resignations were submitted on 26 January 2010, with effect on 29 January 2010. They resigned in spite of Beijing warning them not to, Chief Executive Donald Tsang claimed that the "so-called referendum" had no legal grounding. The by-elections were nevertheless held on 16 May 2010. Following a boycott by the pro-government parties, the five who resigned were returned to the Legislative Council by voters. The by-election was criticised as a waste of taxpayers’ money.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Causes, Arrest of Liu Xiaobo
Protesters called for the release of the Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, who was detained on 8 December 2008. He was formally arrested and sentenced to eleven years of imprisonment and two years’ deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" in the manifesto he co-authored, Charter 08.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Causes, Electoral reform package
The Central Government unveiled a package of electoral reforms, calling for 10 new seats in the legislature from 60 to 70 of which 40 will be directly elected, the first time a majority of seats will be determined by popular vote. It also called for an extra 400 people to be added to the 800-member committee that nominates and elects the Chief Executive. The bill requires a vote of 40, or a two-thirds majority threshold to pass. Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed the bill on 25 June 2010 with 46 lawmakers, including moderates, in favour.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Causes, Electoral reform package
12 others, including members from the League of Social Democrats and all five members of the Civic Party, voted against it. Opponents view that the bill does not go far enough and does not set any concrete roadmap for Hong Kong's universal suffrage, leaving uncertainty. The pan-democracy camp attacked the conservative proposals as a rehash of those already rejected in 2005, but the Hong Kong government under Donald Tsang said its proposals were "more democratic", and could not exceed what was authorised by Beijing.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Causes, Electoral reform package
The pan-democratic party was split when The Democratic Party opted to vote with the Beijing government, parting company with the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats. The Chief Executive assented on 29 June 2010, and China's parliament ratified the decision on 28 August. It was the first time Hong Kong's legislature had passed major reforms to electoral arrangements since the city reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997. A previous attempt in 2005 was voted down by opposition democrats.


2010 Hong Kong democracy protests, Reactions, Mainland reaction
Beijing was wary of upsurges of public discontent in Hong Kong. The Chinese government did not immediately comment after the resignation of five legislators, but it criticised the resignation plan in a statement afterwards, calling it a challenge to authority.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform
The 2010 Hong Kong electoral reform was the series of events began in 2009 and finalised in 2010 under the Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012, a document published on 18 November 2009 by the Government of Hong Kong to broaden the scope of political participation and increase the democratic elements in the 2012 elections in line with the Hong Kong Basic Law.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform
The proposals included modifying the arrangements for electing the Chief executive of Hong Kong and the composition and ways of electing the city's legislature in 2012, in line with the December 2007 decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC). While the pan-democracy camp attacked the conservative proposals as a rehash of those already rejected in 2005, the government said its proposals were "more democratic", and could not exceed what was authorised by Beijing.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform
The consultations took place in the backdrop of talks about a de facto referendum, and the 2010 Hong Kong by-election precipitated by the resignation of five pan-democrat legislators in January 2010. Official attempts to secure the passage of the proposals resulted in a media campaign by the city's leaders and an unprecedented televised debate between the Chief executive and a leader of an opposition party; it also resulted in renewing of dialogue between Beijing and the Pan-democrats which ceased after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform
Following the Central Government's acceptance at the eleventh hour of a proposal by the Democratic Party concerning the new District Council functional constituency seats which they had up to that point opposed as being in contravention of the Basic Law, the consultation package was accepted by LegCo on 25 June, with 46 votes. The pan-democrat camp was split when the Democratic Party voted with the government amidst severe recriminations and protests of betrayal; the League of Social Democrats and the Civic Party remained opposed to the package but were unable to block the passage. The Chief executive assented on 29 June 2010, and China's parliament ratified the decision on 28 August.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Pan-democrats' blueprint
In March 2007, the pan-democrats published their own blueprint, the 'mainstream transitional proposal' drawn up with the support of 21 legislators in accordance with principles of equal and universal suffrage and which they said reflected public opinion. They proposed that 400 elected district councillors would join the existing 800-member Election Committee, making a total of 1,200-members; Nominations threshold would be set at 50 EC members, and the candidate for CE would be elected in a one-person, one-vote election. Ultimately, the nomination committee would be scrapped. For the legislature, they propose returning half Legco's seats by direct election in single-seat constituencies, with the other half determined by proportional representation.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Chief executive's report
During his campaign in the CE election in 2007, Donald Tsang promised that he would "endeavour to forge consensus within the community within his new term, so that universal suffrage could be implemented as soon as possible." A Green Paper on Constitutional Development was published on 11 July to open discussion on the options, roadmap and timetable for implementing universal suffrage for the CE and the LegCo.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, Chief executive's report
According to the consultation document, the CE submitted a report to the NPCSC on 12 December 2007, that "reflect[ed] faithfully the views of different sectors of the community on the issue of universal suffrage received during the public consultation period." The government document asserted that "more than half of the public supported the implementation of universal suffrage for the CE and the LegCo ('dual universal suffrage') in 2012, and at the same time, implementing universal suffrage for the CE first by no later than 2017 would stand a better chance of being accepted by the majority in our community."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, NPCSC resolution
the election of the fifth Chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2017 may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage; that after the Chief executive is selected by universal suffrage, the election of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may be implemented by the method of electing all the members by universal suffrage...


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, NPCSC resolution
Appropriate amendments conforming to the principle of gradual and orderly progress may be made to the specific method for selecting the fourth Chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2012 and the specific method for forming the fifth term Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the year 2012 in accordance with the provisions of Articles 45 and 68, and those of Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, NPCSC resolution
The only certainty is that Hong Kong will get exactly what Beijing wants it to have, which is exactly zilch.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Background, NPCSC resolution
The bills on the amendments to the method for selecting the Chief executive and the proposed amendments to such bills shall be introduced by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the Legislative Council; such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the membersof the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief executive


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation
The NPCSC decision became the backbone of the document published by the government on 18 November 2009, entitled the "Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012". The government said proposals broadened the scope of political participation and increase substantially the democratic elements in the 2012 elections. The consultation ended three months later with 47,200 written submissions being received.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation, Variables
The government notes that, despite calls from some quarters to discuss universal suffrage models, it has only been authorised by the NPCSC to determine the methods for selecting the CE and for forming the LegCo in 2012; how the two electoral methods should be amended for attaining universal suffrage is outside of its scope. It said that "there is still ample room for making amendments to the electoral method to enhance its democratic elements" in 2012, and proposed the following for LegCo elections:


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation, Variables
The Asia Times remarked that both proposals for LegCo and for the Chief executive "hedged in with so many ifs and buts that there is no guarantee of Hong Kong getting anything at all... "


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation, Variables
However, the level of interest in, and the knowledge of, the proposals was low: A poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong on 18 November of 1,001 people found 68 per cent knew 'little' of what the consultation was all about; a similar survey three months later remained at 70 per cent. The pollster said the resignation plan by five legislators, without sufficient focus on the details of the reforms, shifted attention away from the plan. Albert Ho said the end game needed to be in the sights, because 2012 was only a transition.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation, Variables
He dismissed the proposal as "meaningless" because it failed to address the pan-democrats' real concerns. On a three-day trip to Beijing in late December, Donald Tsang was asked by Chinese Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao to handle Hong Kong's constitutional reforms 'in an appropriate manner'. He was told by Premier Wen Jiabao that Hong Kong 'should start to study major macro-issues relating to holistic developments and plan for the future. It should better resolve some deep-rooted conflicts in Hong Kong, make good uses of Hong Kong's advantages, sharpen Hong Kong's competitiveness and pay more attention to social services and people's livelihood.'


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The consultation, Variables
Pan-democrats all agreed that the proposals do not go far enough, but were divided on what action is needed. Significantly, the Democratic Party opted to engage with Beijing to negotiate, parting company with the Civic Party and the LSD. In January 2010, five legislators from the Civic Party and the LSD resigned their seats as part of the 'Five Constituencies Resignation' concept for meaningful political reform; Albert Chan, Alan Leong, Tanya Chan, "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung and Wong Yuk-man resigned from LegCo. Their resignations were submitted on 26 January 2010, with effect on 29 January 2010. Beijing warned the five legislator not to resign. Chief executive Donald Tsang said the "so-called referendum" had no legal grounding. The resignations precipitated a by-election throughout the territory which takes place on 16 May 2010.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The 2009 package
In a surprise move, the government unveiled the revised package before they were scheduled. Key proposals, such as increasing the Election Committee for the chief executive election from 800 members to 1,200 in 2012 and increasing the number of Legislative Council members from 60 to 70, remain unchanged. It was proposed that the five additional Legco seats for the district council constituency will be elected by proportional representation instead of block voting as suggested by pan-democrats.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, The 2009 package
Announcing the plan, Chief Secretary Henry Tang said the government tried to find the "maximum latitude to enhance the democratic elements of the two elections in 2012." He urged legislators to accept this 'golden opportunity' because there was no room for further concessions. The proposals will be put before Legco on 23 June, before the summer recess.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Chinese government
Qiao Xiaoyang, head of the NPC's Hong Kong Basic Law committee, said the reason the Standing Committee ruled that Hong Kong "may" and not "must" have universal suffrage for the 2017 chief executive and 2020 Legislative Council elections was because any change in electoral methods required approval by local lawmakers. He added that passage of the reform package would "create excellent conditions for universal suffrage in the future."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Chinese government
At a seminar organised by a coalition of Beijing-friendly groups, deputy director of the central government's liaison office, Li Gang said that lawmakers should act bravely and responsibly to reach consensus, and create favourable conditions for realising the universal suffrage timetable. Li said: "It is impossible for a winner to take all on the issue of constitutional development. There can only be win-win. If one wants to win alone, the result may be lose-lose."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Chinese government
After the government unveiled the procedures for the LegCo vote, deputy secretary general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Qiao Xiaoyang, defined 'universal suffrage' as:


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Chinese government
Pan-democrats said Qiao's statement reinforced their concerns, as it offered only the right to vote rather than to stand and nominate others in an election, and paved the way for keeping functional constituencies indefinitely.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Hong Kong government
Constitutional Affairs minister Stephen Lam insists the reform proposal is more democratic than the 2005 package which was voted down by the Legislative Council, and was more likely to advance the city's political system if approved. He said that the timetable of universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020 was not an ideal, but asserted that it was "a practical one that is accepted by over 60 percent of residents."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Hong Kong government
Chief Secretary Henry Tang said the government would consider scrapping appointed district councillors if sufficient opposition lawmakers promise to support the 2012 political reform package. Speaking at a seminar, Tang warned pan-democrats that being "led by the nose by a small group of loud people, one will only step onto a road of no return paved with thorns."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Hong Kong government
He said that there was time to have an in-depth discussion on whether functional constituencies should exist, and how legislators should be elected under universal suffrage, but said: "It is undemocratic, unscientific and impractical to simplify the matter as `scrapping functional constituencies' and peg it with the 2012 political reform package."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
Pan-democrats expressed their deep disappointment with the proposals; their 18 legislators intimated their preparedness to vote down the package if no further progress is made on democracy.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
The Democratic Party condemned the consultation document for failing to bring in dual universal suffrage (for LegCo and for the chief executive elections) by 2012, and again demanded the functional constituencies, which were untouched by the proposal, to be abolished for good. The "One person, two votes" concept was also brought up. However, the Democratic Party stopped short of refusing the proposal outright, and expressed the view that if there is no universal suffrage in 2012, the proposal must state that there will be 'real' universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
The Democratic Party opting for engagement with Beijing, having assessed was that Beijing was keen to see a breakthrough in the reform talks because it realised that chief executive Donald Tsang's administration would become a lame-duck administration if his reform package was again defeated. Believed that Beijing wanted reform in Hong Kong to offset international pressure over the lack of human rights, and to set an example for Taiwan, they set, they abandoned the 'radicals' to their referendum plan.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
The Alliance for Universal Suffrage – an umbrella group of moderates with Democratic Party at its core which counts 15 legislators as its members – entered into discussions with representatives of Beijing. They asked for guarantees of the abolition of functional constituencies before they would accept an increase in the government's proposal. In May, Pan-democrat groups reported having been in contact with mainland officials for several months to discuss ideas for reform; they quote officials as saying that a statement on electoral reform beyond 2012 will be made, conditional upon LegCo's approval of the current package. However, one member of the Alliance said "Pan-democrats would be reluctant to take the political risk to back the proposal for the 2012 elections before Beijing makes a statement on the electoral arrangements beyond 2016."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
Civic Party lawmaker Audrey Eu said her party will not support the "regressive and unacceptable" reform package, that increases the number of functional constituency seats. She said the current proposals, still lacking a roadmap and is thus confined to discussing change for 2012, and not beyond, are no improvement on those vetoed five years ago.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
She criticised the government for dodging important questions such as how universal suffrage reconciled with functional constituencies; how reform will not be blocked in Legco by functional constituency legislators, who make up half the chamber; and how the political system should evolve to improve governance and mitigate the increasing societal conflict and widening wealth gap.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
LSD chairman Andrew To understood that Donald Tsang does not have the power to initiate democratic reform. He said the package was 'old wine in a new bottle', written to give the illusion of reform, while allowing Hong Kong's vested interests to maintain their political power. He lamented the relegation of real reform off into the vague future. To warned Tsang and the pro-Beijing camp not to twisted the definition of universal suffrage against the people's interests, and rejected the pro-Beijing camp's assertions that functional constituencies were compatible with the concept of full universal suffrage.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
Anson Chan dismissed the latest package as "retrograde": increasing functional constituencies further entrenched narrow vested interests. She called on the government give a clear commitment to abolishing functional constituencies by 2020 at the latest; to make the composition of Election Committee for the chief executive more representative and its workings more transparent; to broaden the electoral base by rebalancing constituencies.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pan-democrats
Cardinal Joseph Zen expressed his outrage, anger and helplessness at being "treat[ed] like idiots" by the government. He denounced the faux-consultation on a package which was little different from the undemocratic proposal voted down in 2005, in that it lacked direction, and road map for universal suffrage. "Even if we reject it, it will not affect the introduction of universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020," he said.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Government-friendly groups
DAB chairman, Tam Yiu-chung, said that while the proposals could be improved upon, his party supported enlarging the Election Committee to 1,200, and creating five district council functional constituency seats in 2012. He proposed to then open up the six district council functional constituency seats for all members of the public, not just district councillors, to contest. In late April, LegCo president Jasper Tsang increased pressure on pan-democrats, whilst triggering controversy when he indicated his willingness to resign his post to vote for reform proposals. He said "Government officials probably also agree my vote is more important than my being Legco president. My post can be temporarily taken by someone else."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Government-friendly groups
Whilst believing the reform package represents a step forward in democratisation, the Liberal Party expressed disappointment that the package did not address the need to expand the electorate base of functional constituencies. James Tien said that in failing to offer concrete proposals on functional constituencies, the government was "not scratching where it itches". He suggested that under a model where functional constituencies would be retained, voters should be able choose a functional constituency in which to cast a second vote. He said that people would enjoy equal voting rights compatible with the principle of universal suffrage; expert views and sectoral interests would still be represented in a legislature otherwise dominated by career politicians.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Government-friendly groups
Independent legislator and former security minister Regina Ip criticised the precipitation of the by-election. She urged the public to refocus on the two methods for selecting the chief executive and electing the legislature in 2012, to forge a consensus on how to move forward in 2012, and lay the foundation for universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, The legal profession
The Law Society and Bar Association reiterated their call for the abolition of functional constituencies as being non-compliant with international law – Article 25(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 21 of the Bill of Rights. They urged the government to put forward a revised consultation document with more progressive proposals, a clear road map on the way forward, and a commitment to abolish functional constituencies.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, The legal profession
Law Society observed that structure of the proposals places a very heavy burden on the chief executive in the three years 2017 to 2020 when major changes were required, and expressed concern that it may thus breach the requirement of the principle of 'gradual and orderly progress' enshrined in Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law. The Bar Association said that corporate or directors' voting was also incompatible with international law; they said the failure to comply is not mitigated by replacing corporate voting by an authorised representative with voting by directors, executives, member associations, individual members.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Business groups
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce supported maintaining functional constituencies, to provide Legco with the necessary expertise in scrutinising bills and policies. But was open to discuss ways to broaden their voter base, such as 'one-person, two-votes'. They hope to see alignment of chief executive with a political party to facilitate governance, and the CE able to appoint legislators from like-minded groups as principal officials to further cement the link between the administration and the legislature.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Business groups
In a survey conducted by TNS, more than 60 percent of business and opinion leaders in Hong Kong want Beijing to promise to take steps in 2016 to pave the way for universal suffrage and abolish functional constituencies; 43% of those surveyed believed the central government should make more concessions to ensure the passage of the package, while one-quarter say the pan-democratic camp should offer concessions. However, on the possible veto, 43% of the respondents would favour a veto if there was no roadmap for universal suffrage, compared with 39 per cent who disagreed. A pro-Beijing legislator for Kowloon East said the majority of Hong Kong people considered the proposal inadequate and hoped Beijing would make more concessions.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pundits
Joseph Wong, former secretary for civil service, suggested the government could go further in broadening the democratic base of electorates for the Election Committee by adding new seats in three sub-sectors, to be returned by individual voting; the nomination threshold for the 2012 chief executive election should be lowered from one-eighth to one-tenth, or 160 nominations. He suggest that Legco should remain at 60, but five trade-based seats – education, legal, medical, health services and social welfare – should be returned by 'one man, one vote'.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Pundits
Simon Young, director of the Centre of Comparative and Public Law at the University of Hong Kong, said they hoped for a gradual rearrangement of functional constituencies sectors to achieve greater balance, and to diminish the influence of the most problematic functional constituencies – the commercial, industrial and financial sectors, which operate by corporate or directors' votes, and then abolishing them by 2020.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Civic groups
Former legislator, Christine Loh of Civic Exchange acknowledged the HK government had little room for manoeuvre. She said it was widely held that Hong Kong elections were unfair. Functional constituencies and sub-sector elections for the legislature and chief executive selection respectively needed urgent change to remove corporate voting because vested business interests enjoy an excessively dominant role in politics – the alignment of commercial interests with political interests creating a deadly combination. She said it was regrettable that Tsang and his team of officials could not be seen to stand and fight side by side with Hong Kong people, but were instead little more than Beijing's messengers.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Civic groups
Teachers' group Education Convergence said there needed to be a road map for universal suffrage for the chief executive and LegCo elections in 2017 and 2020. The one-eighth nomination threshold for chief executive candidates must be lowered to 50 votes. The government must promise that all functional constituencies will be abolished in 2020.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Views on the 2009 package, Public view
In a Hong Kong University poll in May, 48% respondents said legislators should accept the proposals, while the government cited a One Country Two Systems Research Institute survey of 856 people, which suggested 60 per cent supported the proposals.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' negotiations with Beijing
Following the by-election, it was revealed that meetings had been arranged for "moderate" pan-democrats to meet Beijing representatives – the first meeting between Democratic Party leaders and senior officials from the central government since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 – for talks on democratic development.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' negotiations with Beijing
To that end, Li Gang, the deputy director of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong, met with Democratic Party leaders Emily Lau, Cheung Man-kwong and Albert Ho for talks on 24 May; he met the Alliance for Universal suffrage representatives on 26 May, and members of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) on 28 May. The Democrats demanded that district council functional constituency lawmakers, instead of being chosen in 2012 by Councillors, that they be nominated by Councillors but elected through universal suffrage.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' negotiations with Beijing
They also argued for scrapping functional constituencies in 2020 and keeping the nomination threshold of 2017 chief executive election at 100 votes. Li Gang rejected these demands, on the grounds that enlarging the voter base in such a way would "not be in line with the original intent of the Basic Law", he asked them to soften their stance "for the good of all".


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pan-democrats' negotiations with Beijing
An insider to the negotiations with Beijing revealed that mainland officials said that the Democratic Party must be prepared to drop the 4 June issue if it wanted to maintain a long-term dialogue. As a result of the hostility from fellow pan-democrats at the Democratic Party 'betrayal' vote, DP agreed to deliver a report disclosing full details of their negotiations with Beijing.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign
Following the by-election, the government stepped up efforts to gain support for the reform package. It commissioned two television advertisements which emphasised the need to move forwards with democratisation. Tsang began to campaign via radio interviews, and he and his ministers took to the streets to mobilise support. The roadshow culminated with a televised debate with Audrey Eu of the Civic Party.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign
On 17 May, one day after the by-election, Donald Tsang gave an interview to Metro Radio in the final push to gain support for the constitutional reform proposals. When asked whether he would consider agreeing to a televised debate, he only smiled. On 21 May, reports came that Audrey Eu had accepted Tsang's invitation to a one-hour televised debate on the reform package on 17 June, one week before the LegCo vote. The move puzzled some observers.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign
Ma Ngok, a Chinese University academic, said there was a risk it could be seen as recognition of the claimed mandate following the referendum call. Politician Regina Ip criticised the decision as unnecessarily giving political platform to the leader of a movement which the government has worked hard to condemn (i.e. Audrey Eu and the pan-democrats). The Democratic Party and the League of Social Democrats complained that their parties were being excluded from the debate.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign
Although the public was to be excluded, ostensibly for public order reasons, Tsang provoked controversy by saying, "The seven million people in Hong Kong can all participate." The Democratic Party's Albert Ho called Tsang's definition of "participation" as "a joke". The South China Morning Post welcomed Tsang's decision to debate with Eu on television; Ip said that Tsang's heroism was laudable, but that he had more to lose; political commentator Frank Ching said that the stakes were high for Tsang: a repeat of the 2005 veto would cast him as someone who cannot get things done for Beijing. Hong Kong University academic Albert Cheng said that the public was, quite rightly, favourably disposed towards the debate as the way of breaking the stalemate and moving forwards; he condemned all those politicians who were self-promoting, and 'grandstanding' of their own agendas to the detriment of Hong Kong.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign
Two publicly funded television commercials entitled "Move forward. Don't stand still" and "Trust makes our dream come true" urged support for the reform package but were greeted with controversy; a third publicly funded television spot featuring three ExCo members was launched in late May. A citywide poster campaign was also planned. According to Regina Ip, full-page newspaper advertisements by the government were "unimpressive".


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign, Act Now
In a very short time after the campaign slogan and logo was made public, detractors had already created a parody which turned the original Chinese slogan 'Act Now' (起錨 in Chinese, meaning 'up-anchor') into ideograms for 'All Wrong' (超錯 in Chinese) & 'Collect Skin' (收皮 is a crude term in Chinese). In his personal blog, Tsang attacked his opponents, saying that those opposing the reform measures were the ones who were getting it all wrong. On the weekend of 29/30 May, Tsang and his ministers toured Hong Kong on an unpublicised itinerary to deliver flyers and meet the public.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign, Act Now
Tsang described as "myths" which surrounded the proposals – that it is regressive, it makes little difference whether it is passed or not, and that ordinary people are not concerned by political developments. He said they were "the first step as well as the last opportunity" to lay the foundation for a chief executive elected by universal suffrage in 2017. He expressed his fear that "a mood of pessimism and cynicism will take root" if there was no progress this time. Ministers visited schools to inform and discuss the proposals with staff and students; some were mobbed when leaving the schools' premises.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Official publicity campaign, Act Now
Ministers continued their campaign roadshow on the weekend of 5/6 June: they split into three teams to cover the territory. Henry Tang led a team into shopping malls in Kowloon; Donald Tsang made stops at destinations on Hong Kong Island, while John Tsang led colleagues to the New Territories in an attempt to distribute leaflets and badges to the public. Despite the government disclosing ministers' itineraries at short notice, the roadshow was greeted the destinations by students, activists and pan-democratic supporters who had gathered to show their opposition and to demand abolition of functional constituencies. Addressing the crowds, Tsang accused the protesters as being 'the minority'. He used the sailing analogy adopted for the campaign, telling protesters to "stop obstructing this vessel from moving forward." The government disclosed that it had spent HK$9 million excluding airtime as at 9 June.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pro-government rally
On the day, organisers estimated 120,000 participated in the pro-government rally; Police estimated 70,000, and said 43,000 of them subsequent marched on to Central. Attendees at the rally included Donald Tsang, Liberal Party leader, Miriam Lau, DAB chairman Tam Yiu-chung and Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying. The organisation phase or the rally was marred by controversies– there were accusations that organisers were buying support, and certain schools were caught up in exerting undue pressure:


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pro-government rally, Junket controversy
Pro -government groups planning a rally on 19 June were attempting to attract participants to their rally in support of the reform proposals by offering free or low-priced junkets. The Hong Kong Quanzhou Association offered registered participants a HK$200 "meal allowance"; Patrick Lau, a government-appointed member of Eastern district council, Wong Wang-tai and Stephen Ng of Wan Chai district council advertised a "promotional tour" through New Century Society and the Happy Valley Residents' Association for HK$30 (US$3.80). A promotional leaflet reads: "Have fun on a tour to Lei Yu Mun, and support the political system to move forward".


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pro-government rally, Junket controversy
The organisers denied it was of a political nature, saying it was "only a cheap tour", so it was not inappropriate to ask for a quid pro quo. The Beijing-friendly Federation of Trade Unions counter-accused the CTU of offering participants of a Labour Day march an eight-course seafood meal and transportation for HK$40. The FTU, which expects 20,000 to join the rally, said it had been "negligent" in failing to issue a guideline to affiliated organisations, but reiterated the alliance would not accept handing out cash to participants.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pro-government rally, School controversy
Schools were also the subject of controversy when it was revealed that the MFBM Chan Lui Chung Tak Memorial College in Tin Shui Wai tried to force its students to attend the rally by making it part of the curriculum for which academic credit would be awarded. After the school's notice had circulated widely on the Internet, and outcry among parents, the school's principal made participation voluntary.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Pro-government rally, School controversy
Teaching staff at the Federation of Education Workers Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Tung Chung complained to the media that the principal declared participation in the march "an [compulsory] extra-professional development activity" aimed to provide teachers with an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the political situation. The school later denied compulsion, saying it merely informed teachers about the march during a regular conference and never asked them to make public their stance on political development.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Televised debate
The one-hour televised debate between Audrey Eu and Donald Tsang duly took place at 18:35 on 17 June at the Central Government Offices with only a TV audience as planned. A three-member panel – headed by the debate moderator Ng Ming-lam – sifted through the 2,876 questions received, and drew lots to select questions for the debate. Terrestrial broadcasters TVB and ATV said the debate's audience rating averaged out at 1.21 million viewers.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Televised debate
Pundits were unanimous that Eu had trounced Tsang in the debate; an overwhelming majority (some 70%) of respondents polled by the HKU and Lingnan University said Eu had won, and some 15% declared in favour of Tsang. Eu's performance was described as polished and engaging, while Tsang was universally panned as being unconvincing and reliant on a prepared script. Although Tsang argued that the real winners were the Hong Kong people, who gained a better understanding of his proposals, The Standard declared that it was a public relations disaster for the government.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Televised debate
The University of Hong Kong poll showed that 45% of people were "more opposed" to the government's proposals after the debate, while 20% said they were more supportive. Making light of his defeat, he referred to some pundits' saying that the debate was a bit like the World Cup match between Argentina and South Korea: "My wife told me, like Argentina ... managed to get past the halfway mark so many times, I didn't even get through once."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote
The Hong Kong government announced on 7 June that their proposals, basically unchanged since they were unveiled, would be submitted to LegCo in two motions on 23 June: 1) the Amendment to method for forming HK's LegCo, and 2) Amendment to method of selecting the chief executive.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote
Chief Secretary Henry Tang said: "The package was put forth after careful deliberations. It was formulated after extensive consultation and discussions among members of the public, different sectors of the community and Legco." He reiterated that there was little room, if any, for more changes since the government had already "pushed to the limit" its authority to reform the political structure arising from a 2007 decision by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote
Pan-democrats, who said any proposals which gave no indication of how universal suffrage would eventually be implemented in 2017 and 2020 were unacceptable, further said the division of new seats in the Election Committee would effectively give more political power to unelected, pro-Beijing figures; all 23 pan-democrat lawmakers signed a declaration pledging to veto the government proposal unless clauses are added to indicate a commitment to abolish functional constituencies.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote
One week before the LegCo vote, while the government was continuing with its 'Act Now' campaign – described by Albert Ho as "a hard sell" – activists were mobilising a protest in front of LegCo on the day of the vote. Police leave has been cancelled between 22 and 24 June, ready to deploy in anticipation of mass demonstrations on the scale of the Opposition to the Guangzhou-Hong Kong Express Rail Link in November 2009.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
One week after Democrats' demands were rejected by NPCSC deputy secretary-general Qiao Xiaoyang, and on the same day that Hao Tiechuan of the Central Government Liaison Office also rejected them as unnecessary and "gilding the lily", Henry Tang and Stephen Lam attempted to woo the 'moderate' Democratic Party by holding last-minute talks with its leaders.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
Tang reportedly agreed to make the request to Beijing when Albert Ho said he would urge his party to support the reform proposal in exchange for the general public being allowed to elect legislators from the new five-seat district council functional constituency following their nomination by district council members. After the 'moderates' indicated their 'bottom line', the request was submitted to Beijing government, which indicated its willingness to accept the Democratic Party counter-proposals for five new district council functional constituency seats in the Legislative Council to be returned by popular election. However, there was dissent within the Democratic Party, notably from Martin Lee; other leading pan-democrats, such as Audrey Eu, also did not believe the package went far enough towards meeting democratic aspirations of Hong Kong people under the Basic Law.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
Over the weekend of 19 June, the official stance softened considerably: senior officials were quoted in the press saying that proposals which once supposedly violated the Basic Law or the NPCSC decision were now viewed as acceptable. The South China Morning Post revealed that Donald Tsang had written a letter the previous week to Xi Jinping, Politburo Standing Committee member and Vice-president in charge of Hong Kong affairs, requesting Beijing's endorsement.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
One SCMP source was quoted as saying, "The chief executive warned in the letter that Hong Kong could face a serious governance crisis if the electoral reform package was vetoed by Legco again, and his ability to govern Hong Kong effectively would be in doubt". The source said Communist Party leader Hu Jintao personally approved the proposals, as the leadership feared further strengthening of the "radical" pan-democrats.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
At their meeting on 21 June, the Democratic Party membership voted by a two-thirds majority in support of their leadership's proposal. However, the breakthrough was not without cost. Within the party, Martin Lee dissented, and said he was contemplating resigning from the party he helped to found, lamenting, "It's not the party I knew". Legislators Andrew Cheng and James To said they were still undecided on their LegCo votes, as their loyalty to the party was in conflict with their responsibility to their constituents. The rift with other pan-democrats widened as the revised proposals were still considered inadequate. The Civic Party's membership endorsed their leadership position against the revised plan. There was a very hostile reaction from the League of Social Democrats. 38 civic groups accused the Democratic Party of reneging on its commitment, selling out Hong Kong people and failing to uphold its principles.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Breakthrough
The SCMP endorsed the proposal, but said it would have been better had the proposal "been part of a carefully thought out road map to universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020". On 21 June, US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr. declared of the revised proposal, "This seems to be yet another positive step en route to what the people of Hong Kong deserve".


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Adjournment vote
In introducing a motion to delay the vote for two weeks, proposer Cyd Ho (Civic Act-up) said: "What you are doing is requesting the pan-democratic camp to write you a blank cheque … or do the equivalent of telling you the PIN of our ATM card". Constitutional Affairs minister, Stephen Lam, replied: "We should not mark time by delaying the debate on the resolutions. We should stride ahead and move towards universal suffrage." Accountancy FC legislator Paul Chan (Independent) supported the delay, saying the proposals would then win widespread support through better public knowledge.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Adjournment vote
Audrey Eu said that voting just hours after rough proposal was "extremely disrespectful to the people, disrespectful to this council, and there are a number of issues left blank which should be resolved"; Albert Chan said the new proposal lacked consultation, and criticised the government of using political power to hijack public opinion. Lau Kong-wah of the DAB dismissed those who supported the adjournment as people who just "oppose everything". Margaret Ng (Civic Party) expressed concern that the government's drafting of vague and open resolutions would give them the opportunity to make last-minute changes without notifying Legco. The adjournment motion failed, after a 5-hour debate; it was supported by directly elected legislators, who voted 18:10 in favour of adjournment, but functional constituency legislators voted 24:6 against. Ip Kwok-him (DAB) later criticised pan-democrats for filibustering with Ho's motion.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Legco speeches
Founding member of the Democratic Party, Andrew Cheng, who had publicly pondered his moral dilemma in supporting the vote, announced in his Legco speech that he would quit the party because "small, but critical differences of opinion" prevented him from fulfilling his election pledge to strive for universal suffrage in 2012. He however urged other pan-democrats not to doubt the party's sincerity, to stop these personal attacks and continue to pave the way to democracy.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Legco speeches
Unionist lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, who declared his intention to vote against the revised proposals, also urged fellow pan-democrats not to forget human relationships: "How has Hong Kong come to this, where we are scolding our own friends? ... Why do people feel the Democratic Party is no longer one of us? I absolutely do not feel like this ... I absolutely cannot utter the words that they have 'betrayed the people'."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Legco speeches
This did not stop Albert Chan from accusing the Democrats of putting party interests above those of the people, and of distortion and misleading them: "To strive for universal suffrage in 2012, that was your election pledge ... If you vote in contradiction to your election pledge, then you have betrayed the people." A subdued Emily Lau conceded she was effectively reneging on her election pledge, saying: "I want to apologise to all those who voted for me ... I accept the condemnation of the people." James To, who had been 'undecided', supported the proposal.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Legco speeches
Expressing his grave misgivings, he said he feared the creation of "super-functional constituencies" with an even larger mandate than geographical constituency lawmakers, would make them impossible to abolish. To reserved a lament for the change he remarked in Emily Lau, who once had the reputation of a firebrand: "I thought she would bring a firmer and harder stance on principles and influence the Democratic Party. But instead, it has been the party that has changed her."


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Amendment to method for selecting the Chief executive
After a nine-hour debate, the resolution which increases the size of the Election Committee which elects the chief executive in 2012 from 800 to 1,200 members, won endorsement at 2.20 pm on 24 June by the legislature by 46 votes to 13. Pan-democrats who supported the proposals included eight from the Democratic Party, Joseph Lee Kok-long and Frederick Fung of the ADPL. James To, who had earlier expressed misgivings about giving his support, voted in favour.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Amendment to method for forming the Hong Kong Legislative Council
The loyalist DAB, which had enthusiastically endorsed the original government proposals from the outset, was annoyed at having its credibility weakened by the last minute proposal. The 'Amendment to method for forming the Hong Kong Legislative Council' was approved by LegCo at 13:30 on 25 June, with 46 votes in favour and 12 against. 'Longhair' Leung Kwok-hung was ejected from the chamber just prior to the vote. This adds ten more seats to the legislature, for a total of 70.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Legislative vote, Assent
Formal assent to the draft amendments to Annexes I and II to the Basic Law concerning the methods of selecting the Chief executive and forming the Legislative Council was given by the Chief Executive on 29 June 2010. The National People's Congress Standing Committee in Beijing rubber-stamped the two amendments to the Basic Law at its session held on 28 August 2010, paving the way for local legislation on the specific electoral arrangements to be enacted.


2010 Hong Kong electoral reform, Aftermath
Beijing has been credited for successfully splitting the pan-democracy camp. The new reform package has been said to be only a little more democratic than ones rejected in 2005, while following the lines of moderate democrats and rejecting radical ones. Sources have warned that Taiwan should watch out for the "divide and rule" strategy China used in Hong Kong. Some anti-communist graffiti was daubed on the Legislative Council building following the contentious Legco vote in June.


2010 Hong Kong–Macau Interport
The 66th Hong Kong Macau Interport was held in Macau on 20 June 2010. Hong Kong captured the champion by winning 5-1.


2010 Hong Kong–Macau Interport, Results
Assistant referees:Ng Yik Kwun (Macau)Tang Yiu Fai (Macau)Fourth official:Wong Bing Kwun (Macau)


2010 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship
The 2010 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship was held on 6 November and 13 November 2010. The first leg was played at Yuanshen Sports Centre Stadium, Shanghai on 6 November, with the second leg taken place at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, Hong Kong on 13 November.


2010 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship
It was the first time in the competition history that it is held in a two-leg format.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season
The 2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season began Saturday, April 10 and ended on September 18.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season, All-Star game
The 2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse All-Star Game will be the 1st midseason exhibition between the all-stars divided in teams North and South. The all-stars from Almere, Amsterdam, Bussum and Haarlem will make up team North. The all-stars from The Hague, Hoofddorp and Rotterdam will make up team South.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season, All-Star game
The game will be held on July 4 at the Leen Volkerijk Stadium, the home of ADO Den Haag.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season, All-Star game, Rosters
Votes were cast online. The deadline to cast votes was June 27, and the results were published on June 28. Most of the players, 14 out of 19, in team South are players from Corendon Kinheim and L&D Amsterdam. Also, DOOR Neptunus brings 10 players to the All Star Game. Current weakest teams in the 2010 season, ADO Den Haag and Almere Magpies, has the lowest number of representatives.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season, Playoffs
The playoffs began on Thursday, August 19 and will feature the four best teams of the regular season.


2010 Honkbal Hoofdklasse season, Playdowns
The playdowns began on Thursday, August 19 and will feature the four weakest teams of the regular season.


2010 Honolulu Challenger
The 2010 Honolulu Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Honolulu, Hawaii between 25 and 31 January 2010.


2010 Honolulu Challenger, ATP entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2010 Honolulu Challenger – Doubles
Kevin Anderson and Ryler DeHeart won in the final 3–6, 7–6(7–2), [15–13] against Im Kyu-tae and Martin Slanar.


2010 Honolulu Challenger – Singles
The Honolulu Challenger Singles division was a tennis tournament held in 2010. This division was for single tennis players. Michael Russell won in the final 6–0, 6–3 against Grega Žemlja.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election
The 2010 Honolulu special mayoral election was held on September 18, 2010. The election coincided with Hawaii's primary election. The winner of the election, Peter Carlisle, filled the unexpired term of former Democratic Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who resigned on July 20, 2010 to run in the 2010 election for Governor of Hawaii.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election
Honolulu Managing Director Kirk Caldwell was acting Mayor of Honolulu on July 20, 2010, following Hannemann's resignation, until the special election was held.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election, Special election background
Mayor Mufi Hannemann was re-elected to a second term in the 2008 mayoral election. In 2010, he announced his intention seek the Democratic nomination for Governor of Hawaii in the gubernatorial election. Under Hawaii's resign-to-run law, Hannemann had to resign as Mayor of Honolulu in order to pursue election to another office in the state.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election, Special election background
Mayor Hannemann resigned from office on July 20, 2010, and formally became a candidate for Governor of Hawaii. Hanneman's resignation necessitated a special mayoral election to fill the remainder of the mayor's unexpired term.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election, Special election background
The Honolulu City Council set the date for the mayoral election for September 18, 2010.


2010 Honolulu mayoral special election, Candidates, Polls
An August 2010 poll conducted by Hawaii News Now and the Star-Advertiser showed Peter Carlisle at 49 percent, Kirk Caldwell with 25 percent, Panos Prevedouros with 11 percent, and Rod Tam being favored by 4 percent of potential voters. Carlisle won the election.


2010 Hopman Cup
The Hopman Cup XXII (also known as the Hyundai Hopman Cup for sponsorship reasons) corresponds to the 22nd edition of the Hopman Cup tournament between nations in men's and women's tennis. The tournament started on 2 January 2010 at the Burswood Dome in Perth, Western Australia.


2010 Hopman Cup
Eight nations competed. They were formed of one man and one woman from the same nation. The nations were split into two pools of four with the group winners contesting the final.


2010 Hopman Cup
Slovakia were the defending champions but were not invited to participate in 2010, whilst Kazakhstan qualified for the event by winning the Asian Hopman Cup.


2010 Hopman Cup
Spain won their third title, defeating Great Britain in the final 2–1.


2010 Horizon Laser Vision Center Classic
The 2010 Horizon Laser Vision Center Classic was held from October 1 to October 4 at the Tartan Curling Club in Regina, Saskatchewan. The cash purse of the event was CAD$16,000. The event was held in a round-robin format.


2010 Horizon Laser Vision Center Classic
In an all-Saskatchewan final, Randy Bryden defeated Carl deConinck Smith in an extra end, 5–4.


2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament was played Tuesday, March 2 through Tuesday, March 9. The Horizon League Network broadcast the opening rounds, which were played at the home courts of the higher seeds. The Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship games were broadcast by ESPNU and ESPN/ESPN360.com respectively, and took place at the arena of the #1 overall seed, Butler University. The winner received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Tournament.


2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeds
All Horizon League schools played in the tournament. Teams were seeded by 2009–10 Horizon League Conference season record, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The top 2 teams, Butler and Wright State, received a bye to the Semifinals.


2010 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket
First round games at campus sites of lower-numbered seedsSecond round, semifinals, and championship were hosted by the #1 Overall Seed, Butler. All times ET.


2010 Hosseinabad earthquake
The 2010 Hosseinabad earthquake occurred on December 20 at 22:11 local time (18:41 UTC) with a moment magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). It was located about 20 km from Hosseinabad (spelled variously as Ḩoseynābād or Hosein Abad) (Persian: حسين آباد), Kermān Province in south-eastern Iran, about 100 km from Bam.


2010 Hosseinabad earthquake
The earthquake killed eleven people and injured over 100. Damage was concentrated in about 20 villages in the area of Fahraj. Casualties were reported in the villages of Chah Qanbar, Tak Seyfeldini, and Sarze Rigan. Telephone service was interrupted and power outages were reported in the affected area. The intensity in Bam was  IV (Light) and no damage was caused. It could also be felt in the province of Sistan-Baluchestan. According to the director of the Red Crescent of Iran, it is difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to some villages in the affected mountainous area. Some hard-to-reach areas were inaccessible due to being blocked by landslides.


2010 Hosseinabad earthquake
Moderate earthquakes can cause serious damage in the Iranian countryside, where buildings are often made of mud-bricks.


2010 Hounslow London Borough Council election
Elections for Hounslow Council in London were held on 6 May 2010. The 2010 United Kingdom General Election and other local elections took place on the same day.


2010 Hounslow London Borough Council election
In London council elections the entire council is elected every four years, as opposed to some local elections where one councillor is elected every year in three of the four years.


2010 Houston Astros season
The 2010 Houston Astros season was the 49th season in the history of the franchise. The team, managed by first-year manager Brad Mills, began their 11th season at Minute Maid Park and 46th as the Astros on April 5. After finishing 74–88 the year before in 5th place, the Astros finished 76–86 in 4th place in 2010.


2010 Houston Astros season
The Astros struggled in April. After starting the season 0–8, they finished April 8–14, despite a 3.92 ERA from their pitching staff. They lost the last four in April, as well as the first four in May for a second 8-game losing streak. They finished May with a 9–20 mark to give the Astros a 17–34 record over the first two months. The Astros rebounded to win 8 of their first 10 games in June, but struggled in Interleague play, going 2–10 against the AL in June to finish 14–14 in June.


2010 Houston Astros season
The Astros lone representative to the All-star Game was Michael Bourn, who was batting .255 with 28 stolen bases. The Astros traded away Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman in late July for a total of 5 prospects, and ultimately the Astros went 13–11 in July. The Astros would go 34–27 after trading away Oswalt and Berkman. The Astros won the final four games of July and the first three of August for a season-high 7-game winning streak, capped by a season-high 18–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.


2010 Houston Astros season
The Astros would have their best month of the year in August by going 17–12, including a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, the first time the Phillies were swept in Citizens Bank Park. The Astros would experience their third consecutive winning month in September, going 14–13, however the poor months of April and May kept them out of contention down the stretch. They finished the season in Chicago to face the Cubs, losing 2 of 3, but still finishing 4th ahead of the Cubs.


2010 Houston Astros season
Jeff Keppinger led the Astros in batting average with a .288 clip, while Hunter Pence led them in home runs (25) and RBIs (91). Brett Myers led the Astros in wins (14), ERA (3.14), and Strikeouts (180) in a career year, where he went 6 innings in his first 32 starts. Michael Bourn his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove Award to go along with his All-Star selection.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
The Astros began 2010 playing the San Francisco Giants at home, but lost 5–2 on Opening Day to Tim Lincecum, who pitched 7 shutout innings, and the Giants. The Astros would drop the second one as well 4–0 to Barry Zito, who pitched six shutout innings, and got swept at home the next game 10–4 after giving up 2 runs in the eighth and 4 in the ninth. They lost to J. A. Happ, who pitched five shutout innings and would be traded in July to the Astros, and the Philadelphia Phillies 8–0 in the first game.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
The Astros had a 5–4 lead going into the 7th inning in the second game, but gave up 3 runs in the 7th and 2 in the 9th and lost 9–6. In the final game of the series, the Phillies's Roy Halladay pitched a complete game allowing only one run to win 2–1, to sweep the Astros and give them a six-game losing streak. Going on the road for the first time this season, the Astros visited Busch Stadium to face the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
The Astros lost 5–0 in game one of the series, as Adam Wainwright pitched 8 shutout innings to get the win. In the second game, the Astros scored 1 in the first and the Cardinals scored 2 in the first. Those would be the only runs scored in the game, as the Cardinals won 2–1. The Astros were in danger of being swept by the Cardinals, until the Astros won 5–1 on the back of Bud Norris's 5 innings, allowing only 1 unearned run.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
This win snapped an 8-game losing streak to begin the season, in which they failed to score in 3 of the games and scored 1 run or less 5 times. The Astros went to Wrigley Field in Chicago to face the Chicago Cubs and dropped the first one 7–2, giving up 6 runs in the bottom of the 7th. The Astros won 4–3 in the next game, with Roy Oswalt throwing 7 shutout innings. In the next game, the Astros won a 10-inning game in the series finale 3–2, rallying for 1 run each in the 8th, 9th, and 10th innings, with the winning run scoring on a Pedro Feliz sacrifice fly, to win their first series of the season.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
The Astros would head back home for 9 games, starting with 3 against the Florida Marlins. The Astros won the first game 7–5, scoring 3 in the bottom of the 8th to break a 4–4 tie. In the next game, the Astros won 5–4, on a Geoff Blum 2-RBI triple to rally the Astros from a 4–3 deficit. In the next game, the Marlins won 5–1 after putting up 3 runs in the 1st, snapping the Astros's 4-game winning streak. The Astros would then face the Pittsburgh Pirates at home, and won the first game 4–3.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
In the next game, a Lance Berkman line drive would hit the pitcher Chris Jakubauskas in the head. Fortunately, he would be fine, after being hospitalized. The Astros would win that game 5–2. In the final game of the series, the Astros put up 10 runs and won 10–3, despite Pittsburgh outhitting the Astros 14–10, to secure the Astros first series sweep of the season, and their third consecutive series win.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
The Astros outscored the Pirates 19–8 on the backs of great pitching by Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodríguez, and Brett Myers, who combined to give up only 5 earned runs over 20.1 innings pitched over the course of the series. After the last game, the Astros had won 7 out of their last 8 games and were 8–10, in 3rd place in the NL Central, and only 3 games back from the Cardinals. Unfortunately for the Astros, this hot streak would end soon. In the next game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Astros lost 6–2.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, April
In the next game, the Astros rallied for 3 in the 9th but still lost 6–4. In the series finale, the Astros lost 4–2, being swept for the third time in seven series this season. Going to Turner Field to face the Atlanta Braves, and lost 4–2 again to conclude April with an 8–14 mark, and a four-game losing streak.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The Astros would continue to struggle into May, losing 10–1 to the Braves. In the series finale, the Braves finished the sweep by winning 7–1, giving the Astros their sixth loss in a row. Going back home, the Astros lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 9–1, failing to score more than one run for the third consecutive game. In the second game, the Diamondbacks won 1–0 from 6.2 shutout innings from Ian Kennedy. This gave the Astros an eight-game losing streak, during which they had been outscored 45–13.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
In game three, the Astros walked-off in the bottom of the 9th off a 2-run home run from Carlos Lee, giving the Astros a 4–2 win. In the last game, the Astros lost 6–3 after falling 5–0 back after the Diamondbacks finished hitting in the fourth inning. In the first game against the San Diego Padres, Mat Latos pitched eight shutout innings allowing only two hits as the Astros lost 7–0, and only recording 3 hits.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The second game was a pitcher's duel, with the Astros losing 2–1, and the starters, Jon Garland for the Padres and Felipe Paulino for the Astros, combined to allow one earned run in 14 innings between them. The Astros avoided the sweep with a 4–3 win in 11 innings, on a Hunter Pence walk-off hit to drive in Berkman. The Astros went to St. Louis to play the Cardinals and won the first game 6–3, thanks in part to a 4-run 7th inning.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The Astros won for the third straight game 9–6 in the next game with another big inning, the one a 5-run 4th inning. The Astros got their third game in a row in which they scored four or more in an inning, winning 4–1 with Pence getting a 3-run home run. After the sweep, the Astros went to AT&T Park to face the Giants with a four-game winning streak, but lost 9–3 in the opener. The second game was a rematch of opening day pitchers Lincecum and Oswalt, with Lincecum winning 2–1 off of a 2-run home run off the bat of Juan Uribe. The Giants won another close game 4–3 against the Astros to seal the three-game sweep.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The Astros went to Dodger Stadium to play the Los Angeles Dodgers, losing the first game 6–2. Bud Norris would get hit with six earned runs in the next game, as the Astros lost 7–3 to conclude the short two-game series, with the Astros getting swept for the second consecutive series. The Astros came back home to face the Colorado Rockies for another two-game series, and won the first game 7–3, with a 4-run 8th involving a Jeff Keppinger 3-run double.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
In the next game, the Astros only got three hits for the second time this month, with Ubaldo Jiménez starting and going seven innings, as the Rockies won 4–0 for the series split. The Astros kicked off Interleague Play against the Tampa Bay Rays, winning 2–1 despite a complete game thrown by Rays starter Matt Garza. The Rays would win game two of the series 4–2, though, to tie the series at one each. In contrast to the first two games, which were low-scoring, the series finale was a high-scorer, with the Rays winning 10–6.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The Astros went to Miller Park to play the Milwaukee Brewers, losing 6–1 against former Astro Randy Wolf. The Astros got a great start from Oswalt, who pitched eight shutout innings, and won 5–0. The Astros lost the series finale 4–3 in 10 innings, with Rickie Weeks drawing a walk-off walk against Matt Lindstrom to win the game, after Lindstrom gave up the game-tying run in the bottom of the 9th. The Astros traveled to Great American Ball Park to face the Reds, losing 15–6 against Sam LeCure, who was making his Major League debut.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
The Reds continued to score runs next game, scoring 12 runs as the Reds won 12–2. In the next game, Paulino did what Wandy Rodríguez and Brian Moehler, who started the first two games, failed to do: shut down the Reds batters. Paulino pitched eight shutout innings but did not get the win as the Astros did not score until a Berkman 2-RBI double in the top of the 10th, as the Astros won 2–0.


2010 Houston Astros season, Regular season, May
To finish May, the Astros lost 14–4 to the Washington Nationals back home, with Oswalt being ejected in the 3rd inning, though Gustavo Chacín hit his first career home run for his first career hit. The Astros finished May with a 9–20 mark, and a 17–34 mark on the season overall.


2010 Houston Astros season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2010 Houston Astros season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2010 Houston Cougars football team
The 2010 Houston Cougars football team (also known as the Houston Cougars, Houston, or UH) represented the University of Houston in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the 65th year of season play for Houston. The team was coached by third-year head football coach Kevin Sumlin, and played its home games at Robertson Stadium—a 32,000-seat stadium on campus in Houston. The program is a member of Conference USA in its West Division. Although ranked favorably early in the season, the team finished with a 5–7 record, (4–4 in C-USA play) after season-ending injuries to starting quarterback Case Keenum and other key players.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Previous season
The 2009 Houston Cougars team defeated the nationally ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in their first match-up. Following the victory, the Cougars were ranked by the AP Poll for the first time in more than twenty years. The Cougars played the Texas Tech Red Raiders in front of a record-breaking 32,114 sold-out crowd at Robertson Stadium.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Pre-season, Recruits
Houston's 2010 recruiting class was highly rated relative to its previous seasons. Rated as the No. 45 best recruiting class in the nation ahead of TCU and behind Oregon State by Rivals.com, the 2010 class was Houston's highest-ever ranking by the site. Scout.com ranked Houston as #54, which was the highest Houston had been ranked since 2003, and the 3rd-highest-ever ranking by the site.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Pre-season, Recruits
This was also the highest-rated recruiting class in Conference USA by both sites for the season. In terms of position, Houston ranked No. 13 in the nation by Scout.com for best average ratings of quarterbacks recruited. This reinforced the team's depth in the position, as senior Case Keenum was scheduled to compete in his last season in 2010.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Coaching staff, Top 25 rankings
During the pre-season, Houston was ranked in several notable top 25 polls. Sports Illustrated placed Houston at No. 21 in its power rankings list. Lindy's Sports ranked Houston as #23, and Phil Steele ranked the team as #24. Just outside the top 25, Sporting News ranked Houston as #26, and in the Coaches' Poll as #27.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, Texas State
As a season opener, Houston met with Texas State of the Southland Conference (a Division I FCS conference) for the fourth time in history. However, the two teams had not competed against each other in over six decades, with the last game being in 1948. Texas State had been undefeated against Houston, and were led by fourth-year head coach Brad Wright.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, Texas State
Attendance was at an all-time high for Robertson Stadium, as 32,119 fans watched the game. The record-setting crowd at the stadium surpassed the previous season record against Texas Tech. This marked the largest home-opening crowd to watch the Cougars play since 37,652 fans watched Houston face California at the Astrodome on September 6, 1997. Quarterback Case Keenum set school records for both career passing yards and career pass attempts, surpassing then-current Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Kevin Kolb.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UTEP
Conference USA foe UTEP traveled to Robertson Stadium to face-off against Houston for the eighth time in history. Prior to UTEP's defeat, Houston's record against the team stood at 3–4. During the previous season, UTEP defeated No. 12 Houston to knock the team out of the national rankings for a period of time. The team was led by sixth-year head coach Mike Price who had previously served as head coach for Washington State with Kevin Sumlin as a graduate assistant. Attendance for the game was again at an all-time high, as the 32,119 fans in attendance tied the previous record from the game prior. The matchup was nationally televised on ESPN.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UTEP
The Cougars' offensive strategy appeared to be more focused on rushing rather than the passing game Houston was known for. It was the first time the team had achieved 300 rushing yards in a game since compiling 377 yards against Texas Southern on November 24, 2007. After an interception thrown by senior Case Keenum to UTEP's Trauvan Nixon in the third quarter of the game, the quarterback attempted to tackle the opposing player. Keenum suffered a blow to the head, and was removed from the game. Back-up quarterback Cotton Turner took his place to carry on the win. It was later reported that Keenum was exhibiting symptoms of a mild concussion, but was showing dramatic improvement two days after the game. His condition was listed as being "day-to-day".


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UTEP
Following the game, Houston became nationally ranked for the first time since the previous season, as the Cougars entered both the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll as #23. Junior running back Bryce Beall was named the Conference USA offensive player of the week. Houston's record at 2–0, made it the only team in its conference division to remain undefeated overall, and allowed the team to take the number one spot in the standings.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UCLA
Matt Hogan kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Cougars the first quarter lead. Johnathan Franklin answered with an 11-yard run for a Bruins 7–3 lead. The Bruins scored two touchdowns in the second quarter. Kevin Prince ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Franklin added a 1-yard run touchdown.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UCLA
In the third quarter, UCLA had a 42-yard field goal by Kai Forbath, the 2009 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award winner, and a touchdown again by Franklin (12 yards). Houston scored twice in the fourth quarter, on James Cleveland's 10-yard pass from Terrance Broadway and on Matt Hogan's 31-yard field goal.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UCLA
Two Houston quarterbacks, Case Keenum and Cotton Turner, were injured in the game and are out for the season.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, UCLA
UCLA's Patrick Larimore, who had a career-high and team-high 11 tackles (10 solos), including three for loss, forced a fumble and broke up a pass in the game was named Pac-10 Conference defensive player of the week. He was also named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, Tulane
Second quarter scoring: Tulane – Cody Sparks (13-yard pass from Kevin Moore), Devin Figaro (36-yard pass from Moore); Houston – Beall (1-yard run, 1-yard run), Michael Hayes (1-yard run).


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, Tulane
Third quarter scoring: Tulane – Cairo Santos (29-yard field goal).


2010 Houston Cougars football team, Game summaries, Tulane
Fourth quarter scoring: Tulane – Payten Jason (9-yard run); Houston – Beall (25-yard run), Loyce Means (42-yard interception return).


2010 Houston Dynamo season
The 2010 Houston Dynamo season was the fifth season of the team's existence since joining Major League Soccer (MLS) prior to the 2006 season. It was the team's fifth season with head coach Dominic Kinnear, majority owner Philip Anschultz, and chief operating officer Chris Canetti. On June 10, team president Oliver Luck left the Dynamo to become athletic director for his alma mater, West Virginia University.


2010 Houston Dynamo season
This Dynamo failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history during the 2010 season, finishing 7th in the Western Conference, 1 place and 13 points below the final playoff spot. In the U.S. Open Cup, Houston reached the quarterfinals, where they lost 3–1 to Chivas USA. The Dynamo finished top of their group in the North American SuperLiga, before losing 1–0 to Monarcas Morelia in the semifinals.


2010 Houston Dynamo season
On July 28, the Dynamo hosted the 2010 MLS All-Star Game at Reliant Stadium, where the MLS All-Stars lost 5–2 to Manchester United.


2010 Houston Dynamo season, Final roster
Appearances and goals are totals for MLS regular season only.


2010 Houston Dynamo season, Player movement, In
Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.


2010 Houston Dynamo season, Player movement, Out
Per Major League Soccer and club policies terms of the deals do not get disclosed.


2010 Houston Dynamo season, Competitions, Major League Soccer, Standings
(SS) = Supporters Shield winner; (E1) = Eastern Conference champion; (W1) = Western Conference champion