High-level delegation denies any US role in Occupy protests
Three visiting congressmen note city is at 'critical political juncture'
A high-powered delegation of visiting US lawmakers have assured Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying face-to-face that the United States did not have any role in last year's Occupy Central protests.
In a pointed but diplomatically worded statement issued last night, Republican congressman Matt Salmon, who led the three-man delegation from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, also stressed that it was "important to fully understand the extent to which Beijing is honouring the 'one country, two systems' form of government" at what he described as a "critical political juncture" for Hong Kong.
The statement comes at the end of a carefully calibrated four-day visit during which the delegation met politicians on all sides of the argument over the government's political-reform package, which has split opinion in the city.
Leung - who met the congressmen in his office on Friday - has made repeated claims that his government has evidence that foreign powers were behind the organisation of the 79-day pro-democracy protests that crippled parts of the city and left deep political scars.
The US lawmakers' statement, issued on the eve of their departure from Hong Kong today, said: "While the chief executive previously accused the United States of influencing the 2014 Hong Kong protests, chairman Salmon took the opportunity at each of their meetings to clarify that the United States did not take any role in the Occupy Central protests."
Over the past few days, Salmon, fellow Republican Tom Emmer and Democrat Alan Lowenthal have met senior political figures in both the pro-government and pan-democrat camps, and while stopping short of endorsing the government's controversial package, they continued to use the language of moderation and compromise.
Beijing's restrictive framework for the next chief executive election was laid out last August. It allows only two or three candidates to face a popular vote for the leadership of the city after they have obtained majority support from a 1,200-strong nominating committee.
