Universal suffrage (also universal adult suffrage, general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens (or subjects) as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors (Demeny voting) and non-citizens. Although suffrage has two necessary components, the right to vote and opportunities to vote, the term universal suffrage is associated only with the right to vote and ignores the other aspect, the frequency that an incumbent government consults the electorate. Where universal suffrage exists, the right to vote is not restricted by race, sex, belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, wealth, or social status. Historically, universal suffrage often in fact refers to universal adult male suffrage.

The concept of universal suffrage originally referred to all male citizens having the right to vote, regardless of property requirements or other measures of wealth. The first system to explicitly claim to use universal suffrage was France which is generally recognized as the first national system to abolish all property requirements for voting. In theory France first used universal (male) suffrage in 1792 during the revolutionary period, although the turmoil of the period made this ineffective. France and Switzerland have used universal male suffrage continuously since 1848 (for resident male citizens), longer than any other countries. The German Empire had universal male suffrage from its beginning in 1871. New Zealand became the first nation in the world to achieve universal suffrage in 1893.

Peter David Schiff (pronounced /ˈʃɪf/; born March 23, 1963) is an American businessman, investment broker, author and financial commentator. Schiff is CEO and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a broker-dealer based in Westport, Connecticut and CEO of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, LLC, a gold and silver dealer based in New York City.

Schiff frequently appears as a guest on financial television and is often quoted in major financial publications. He is host of The Peter Schiff Show, a radio show broadcast on terrestrial and internet radio. He is a frequent guest on internet radio as well as the host of the former podcast Wall Street Unspun. In 2010 Schiff ran as a candidate in the Republican primary for the United States Senate seat from Connecticut.

Schiff is known for his bearish views on the dollar and dollar denominated assets, while bullish on investment in tangible assets as well as foreign stocks and currencies.

Peter Schiff was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, Irwin Schiff, is a prominent figure in the U.S. tax protester movement, currently serving a 13-year sentence for tax evasion. Peter Schiff attended Beverly Hills High School in California, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 with a Bachelor's degree in finance and accounting.

Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang,GBM, GCMG,CBE,JP (born 17 January 1940 in Shanghai) was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Hong Kong Island, succeeding the late legislator Ma Lik.

Before running for LegCo, she served as the head of Hong Kong's civil service before and after the territory's handover to the People's Republic of China from British colonial rule. Noted for her poise and smile, she was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. Since November 2005 she has identified herself with the pro-democracy camp, and won the December 2007 by-election for the Hong Kong Island seat in the Legislative Council, as an independent.

Born one of twins in Shanghai, China, Anson Chan was educated at Hong Kong's Sacred Heart Canossian College (formerly known as Italian Convent School and Sacred Heart School) and the University of Hong Kong. She also studied at Tufts University in Massachusetts in the United States.

Chan's father, Fang Shin-hau 方心誥, a textile manufacturer, moved the family to Hong Kong in 1948. Her mother Fang Zhaoling was a well-known painter. Her grandfather, Fang Zhenwu, was a Kuomintang general who fought against the Japanese invasion. Her uncle, Sir Harry Fang Sin-yang is a well-known orthopaedic surgeon. When she was only ten, Chan's father died suddenly aged 36, leaving her mother with eight young children: twins Anson and Ninson and six brothers. With the support of Chan's grandmother, her mother not only shouldered the responsibility of raising her children, but also tried to pursue her career as an artist. She took two of her sons to study in England, leaving Chan and her five other siblings in Hong Kong with their grandmother and Uncle Harry.

Hong Kong people (Chinese: 香港人) refer to people who originate from Hong Kong. The term (and its Chinese equivalent) has no legal definition in Hong Kong. Rather, terms such as Hong Kong permanent resident (香港永久性居民) and Hong Kong resident (香港居民) are used. Besides being used by Hong Kong residents, the term Hong Konger may be used by people who for one reason or another do not have legal residence status but spent an extensive period of time in Hong Kong or otherwise have a strong cultural connection with Hong Kong. Thus the term is largely open to personal interpretation. None of the terms make reference to the ethnicity of a person and are independent of Chinese citizenship or residency statuses.

The vast majority of Hong Kong Chinese have ancestral roots from Guangdong Province in mainland China. After all, the SAR had experienced a great exodus of people in the years leading up to the handover, and yet migration from mainland China in recent years have brought about migrants who would prefer to refer themselves as Chinese. Many locals however simply refer themselves as Hong Kong people (Hèung Góng Yàhn).

Emily Lau Wai-hing JP (Chinese:劉慧卿; born 21 January 1952, Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong politician. She is one of two vice-chairmen of the Hong Kong Democratic Party.

She was the convenor of The Frontier. She has been a full-time member of the Legislative Council (Legco) since 1991, elected from the geographical constituency of New Territories East.

Lau used to be strong against the Beijing Government and pro-Beijing supporters, but her stance is now changed to be moderate and compromised after joining the Democratic Party.

Lau obtained a BA degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Southern California in 1976, and later earned her MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics.

She began her career as a journalist in 1976. From 1987 to 1990 she was a lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and also a lecturer of the Certificate in Journalism in the Department of Extra Mural Studies of the University of Hong Kong. Lau was the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association from 1989 to 1991.