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Remarks on election ban for those calling for end to ‘one-party dictatorship’ are not official statement, Beijing envoy says
Zhang Xiaoming, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, weighs in on Tam Yiu-chung’s comments
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Beijing’s top man in charge of Hong Kong affairs has said a senior local politician's remarks on election eligibility were not “official statements” though he understood why he said them.
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Zhang Xiaoming, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was referring to a warning last week by Tam Yiu-chung, that anyone calling for an end to “one-party dictatorship” would be at risk of being disqualified from running for local office.
Zhang made the comments to a delegation from the Path of Democracy think tank visiting Beijing from Wednesday to Sunday.
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A person with knowledge of the matter said Zhang had told the think tank delegation that Tam’s remarks were “not official statements”. “But you just can’t expect mainland officials to come out and criticise [Tam],” the person said on Saturday.
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