District councils to be purely advisory bodies formed by patriots, Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong quoted as saying
- Xia Baolong, director of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, lays down explicit criteria for this year’s poll for municipal bodies that were once bastion of opposition
- Director also meets chief justice and Law Society representatives, unlike his predecessor during similar visit in 2011
The remarks by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), were quoted by several pro-Beijing district representatives who met him for about an hour on Friday morning on the second day of an extended fact-finding visit.
“[Xia] said the reformed district councils must be formed by patriots so that the chaos of the 2019 extradition bill saga will not happen again,” former district councillor Wong Chun-ping said.
“He said no matter how the councils are formed in the future, they are purely advisory bodies responsible for genuinely relaying people’s views. They should also support the chief executive’s work and the government’s policies.”
He said Xia recognised the challenges district groups had faced in serving their communities in recent years and agreed that establishing more platforms could address residents’ needs at the neighbourhood level.
Kwun Tong district council chairman Wilson Or Chong-shing quoted Xia as saying that the municipal-level bodies had been “an important platform in gauging public opinion”.
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The morning gathering, at a Chinese restaurant in Kowloon decked out with Chinese flags and banners promoting national security, was arranged by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for district administration.
Sources have told the Post authorities are set to announce a plan in the coming months to fill more than half of district council seats either by appointment or voting by the 1,440-strong Election Committee packed with pro-establishment figures.
The director’s six-day visit, which is twice as long as one made by his predecessor, comes amid an overhaul of the HKMAO to give the Chinese Communist Party greater direct control over local affairs. On most of his stops on Friday, the director was accompanied by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and liaison office director Zheng Yanxiong.
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Xia held a closed-door discussion with Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung at the Court of Final Appeal that lasted about two hours and then met Law Society representatives at the headquarters of the Department of Justice.
His predecessor Wang Guangya did not visit judicial officials during his three-day visit to Hong Kong in 2011.
In the afternoon, Xia met local members of the country’s legislature and the political advisory body. Veteran politician Lo Man-tuen praised him as a “down-to-earth, efficient and practical” leader.
“He is the kind of leader who doesn’t just take reports from the liaison office like in the past,” said the vice-chairman of All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese. “His visit will help him clearly understand Hong Kong’s actual situation.”
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Xia also visited three community service centres in Kowloon, including one operated by the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council. He spoke with eight elderly volunteers helping older residents understand and use new technologies aimed at improving their lives.
After speaking with the director, volunteer Wong Siu-mui, 86, described him as “friendly and witty”.
“Xia praised our work and said he should call me ‘big sister’, as I am 10 years older than him. He also said I looked like a ‘little young lady’,” she said with a chuckle, saying the remark had made her day.
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Volunteer Chan Lai-chu, 74, said she had also spoken with Xia and Lee.
“I hope they can support us more. There are 2,000 to 3,000 members in this centre, but the available space is small,” she said. “We don’t have enough classrooms.”
Earlier as staff were preparing for the visit, four elderly residents were turned away and told to return after 2pm.
Xia is next expected to meet local lawmakers, tour infrastructure projects and speak at a ceremony marking National Security Education Day on Saturday.
Ahead of his fact-finding visit to the city, Xia said investigations and studies on Hong Kong and Macau affairs should be “greatly enhanced” and that officials should embrace the party’s theories to help tackle challenges.
