Zhang Xiaoming: A hawk or dove to Hong Kong?
Zhang Xiaoming knows Hong Kong well and some fear he will tighten the mainland's grip, others say that it is too early to tell
Beijing's new top representative in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, caused a stir last month when he accused "external forces" outside China of meddling in Hong Kong's elections.
In a study guide to the report of the Communist Party's 18th congress, and published in the pro-Beijing newspaper Zhang called on Hong Kong to pass the controversial national security law required under Article 23 of the Basic Law, "in due course".
Some critics had feared that the Basic Law could be used to suppress organisations which disagree with the government and his remarks outraged pan-democrats in Hong Kong, who took the report as a sign the central government will tighten its grip on the special administrative region.
Having spent 26 years on Hong Kong affairs, Zhang, 49, is one of only a handful of mainland officials with an encyclopedic knowledge of the city's inner political workings.
However, he wasn't always into politics. A friend remembers that in his younger years Zhang was more interested in Cantonese dramas than current affairs.
"Cantonese television series were very popular when China opened up in the 1980s," said a well-placed source. "Zhang and his colleague Xu Ze [were hooked on] TVB and ATV series rented from video shops."
