City Beat | Hard and soft: Zhang Dejiang lays down line on independence and localism
Government sources and commentators were expecting the parliamentary chairman to steer clear of the controversial issue, but he surprised everyone
Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong ended his whirlwind visit to the city in mid-May, leaving behind much food for thought on the city’s future, especially his frank warning on Hong Kong independence, which took many by surprise.
The point here is why was there such a high-profile signal on an issue that he was not even expected to touch on. This was the first time we’ve had a state leader directly voicing out Beijing’s tough stance on independence calls in the city.
When news first broke that Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People’s Congress, would come to town for a summit on Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” trade strategy, it set off a flurry of guessing on what messages he would bring. Interestingly, from government sources to local political commentators, China watchers and even some Beijing academics, all shared one assumption: Zhang would not openly address the issue of independence.
Their reasoning was that a handful of independence advocates did not represent mainstream views and thus would not be worth a mention by someone of Zhang’s rank, or it might end up giving too much unwarranted publicity to this very small group.
Some cited top Beijing officials’ silence on the Lunar New Year riot in Mong Kok when they met in March for the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of the NPC and China’s top political advisory body – to support their conclusion that Zhang would simply ignore this subject.
To everyone’s surprise, Zhang proved them all wrong. He brought it up in his keynote speech at his welcoming banquet attended by hundreds of leaders and representatives of different sectors.
“I would like to talk about a few issues concerning the original intent of ‘one country, two systems’ ... one is localism,” Zhang began, prompting guests in the grand hall of the Convention and Exhibition Centre to prick up their ears, along with people outside watching the live broadcast of the event on television.
