With Carrie Lam on the cusp of power, Beijing must bridge gulf of mistrust with Hong Kong

Alice Wu says stern words from Zhang Dejiang on Hong Kong’s place in ‘one country’ just weeks before avowed Beijing favourite Carrie Lam takes office shows the extent to which central leaders have been riled by talk of ‘independence’

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Zhang Dejiang shakes hands with Hong Kong’s Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, at a high-ranking symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the Basic Law, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 27. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:02am, 4 Jun 2017Updated: 6:24pm, 4 Jun 2017

Looks like Zhang Dejiang (張德江), Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong and Macau affairs, chairman of the National People’s Congress and No 3 in the Beijing power “core”, is really hard-core on dealing with Hongkongers.

With his stern warnings in Beijing just over a week ago, he seems a man on a mission to squash those “advocating” independence in Hong Kong and thus bringing all Hongkongers down with them.

His comments ahead of the 20th anniversary of the handover – an elaborate declaration of sovereign power that includes the power to control the pace of political reform, power over the chief executive, and the authority to appoint and dismiss key officials – have understandably raised eyebrows. This does not sound quite like what we usually hear from mainland leaders. While others have made every effort to praise “one country, two systems” and its successful implementation, Zhang has been all sirens and flashing lights.

What more does China want from Hong Kong 20 years on from handover?

Of course, he blames Hongkongers, or more specifically, those who have attempted “to turn Hong Kong into an independent or semi-independent political entity, breaking it away from the country”. He said “one cannot turn a blind eye” to attempts to make the city independent. But, as I’ve said many times before, the misguided few do not represent the whole.

Zhang, who is also vice-chair of the National Security Commission, still seems much bothered by the Occupy protests of 2014: never mind that the one precipitating factor for that was the restrictive framework for electoral reform in the city, set out in a white paper by his NPC Standing Committee.

No chance Beijing will reform Hong Kong’s electoral framework in next five years

Mistrust and distrust have grown during the last five years, for many reasons. Yes, we have seen a few people wave the Union Jack and the colonial flag as a way to taunt Beijing during protests – such as when several activists broke into PLA barracks waving the colonial flag on Boxing Day in 2013. Yes, “localists” managed to win seats to the Legislative Council and two have since lost theirs due to their sheer stupidity.

Let’s not shut out the voice of the moderates