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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Ronny Tong Ka-wah, convenor of the Path of Democracy think tank, met Zhang Xiaoming, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Friday. They visited a Beijing park to see the cherry blossom. Photo: Path of Democracy

Published: 11:45pm, 24 Mar 2018Updated: 12:01pm, 25 Mar 2018

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.

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.

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.

A delegation from the Path of Democracy think tank, including Gary Wong Chi-him, Ronny Tong Ka-wah and Raymond Mak Ka-chun met with mainland officials on Thursday in Beijing. They met Li Fei, formerly head of the Basic Law Committee. Photo: Phila Siu

Speculation had been rife over whether Tam’s views represented the central government’s stance because he was Hong Kong’s sole representative to China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

Tam, 68, is a former chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and a former legislator.