Election of Obama an inspiration to all

Chinese Liberal Democrats congratulate Barack Obama, President-elect on his landslide victory in the US elections on 5 November and hail his success as an inspiration to ethnic minority groups across the world.

"There is a new optimism and a sea change in politics that may well travel across the Atlantic. Obama's win is a signal to all of us in ethnic minority communities that we can play a strong role in politics and become a positive force for change," says Linda Chung, Chair of Chinese Liberal Democrats, herself recently elected as a councillor in Hampstead.

"The Chinese and SE Asian communities in Britain have traditionally kept quiet and avoided standing up for themselves politically," agrees Merlene Emerson, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats in Hammersmith.

"However Obama's historic success has now breathed new life into the American dream and new meaning to the words freedom and democracy.

As the Chinese communities of Britain come under greater pressure from strict and at times inequitable new Government immigration laws, there is no better time for us to step up and play our part in British politics."