Lawmaker Wong Yuk-man refuses to join Zhang Xiaoming's Legco lunch

Radical pan-democrat lawmaker Wong Yuk-man said on Tuesday he would not join a lunch with Beijing’s liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming next week.

The lunch will be the first time the central government’s Hong Kong liaison office has sat down with lawmakers from across the political spectrum represented in the Legislative Council.

Wong, formerly a People Power member and co-founder of the party, said, “I am adamant that mainland officials should not interfere with Hong Kong affairs,” he said.

“Also, even if it is a courtesy call, that will be unnecessary. I will not make myself part of [the liaison office’s] PR programme,” Wong said.

The lunch comes as debate on how Hong Kong introduces universal suffrage heats up.

Some other pan-democrats said they would attend the informal lunch but would raise sensitive issues to Zhang.

Labour Party chairman Lee Chuek-yan said he would call for the central government to accept responsibility over the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.