today

Sat, Mar 10, 2007 TaipeiTimes: Anna Lo became the first ethnic Chinese to win a seat in the British parliament as one of six members representing south Belfast. She stood for the centrist, cross-community Alliance Party, which wants to put an end to the traditional practice of Protestant and Catholic communities voting along sectarian lines. Now the chief executive of the Chinese Welfare Association charity, Lo has lived in Belfast for 32 years, is a British citizen and has even acquired the distinctive Northern Irish accent.

Lo has suffered racist abuse and has been advised by the police to carry a panic alarm with her when out meeting the public.

IMO: Both Catholic and Protestant political parties by now look pretty strange to outsiders, and Anna Lo's election may be one of the best things to have happened in Northern Ireland this century.