China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: why did Beijing’s top man in Hong Kong laud the city’s strengths?
- Zheng Yanxiong, director of central government’s liaison office, tells Hong Kong politicians city’s affairs are ‘of national importance’
- Observers point to attracting talent and global use of yuan as vital to nation’s development, but one casts doubt on whether city can maintain international status
Beijing’s representative in Hong Kong made an impression with the political class when he delivered his debut speech as head of the liaison office at the annual sessions of the country’s top legislature and political advisory body over the weekend.
In his remarks delivered at a closed-door meeting attended by key mainland Chinese officials and Hong Kong politicians, Zheng Yanxiong, the director of the central government’s liaison office, proffered the usual warnings about national sovereignty. In a similar vein as other speakers on the subject, he urged the city to stay vigilant even as it had moved from “chaos to governance” and was now poised to pursue prosperity.
But what was unusual, said observers, was how his speech was made public on the same day as the opening compared with the past when such sessions by the liaison office would only be revealed after the two meetings, known as lianghui, were over. They would only be made known via dialogues or “study sessions” held in the city to update everyone on the parliamentary sessions.
And while his predecessors were focused on tasks the city had to accomplish, whether it was to ensure law and order or to help uphold a “patriots ruling Hong Kong” system, Zheng dispensed with a to-do list for his audience. Instead, he devoted the bulk of his speech to listing out and lauding the city’s unique advantages, from its international status and common law system to its open market economy.
Observers said the message was twofold: to galvanise the Hong Kong delegates and motivate them and to also signal to detractors, especially those from the West, that the city intended to remain an international hub.
According to the liaison office, Zheng said at the meeting Hong Kong’s affairs were “of national importance” and the “one country, two systems” governing principle provided momentum for the country’s modernisation.
“We must firmly support Hong Kong in maintaining its common law system to foster greater links with jurisdictions and market systems in developed countries,” Zheng told the Hong Kong delegates of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature, on Sunday.
