For Lee Cheuk-yan, pan-democratic lawmaker and pro-democracy activist, the mainland seems to have realised that hardline confrontation can only spark an independence movement. During a meeting with China’s third ranking leader, four pan-democratic lawmakers called for the ouster of Hong Kong’s chief executive. A Communist Party paper calls it “a sharp demand”, but “that is part of their rights to ask”.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – The Chinese government is coming to realise that the “problem with very hardline confrontation is that they are losing the middle to a more separatist view . . . especially the young people," said Lee Cheuk-yan, a pan-democratic member in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.
He spoke as Zhang Dejiang, China’s third ranking official after President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, continues his visit to the former British colony.
A former governor of the southern province of Guangdong for many years, Zhang chairs the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the equivalent of a speaker of parliament in other countries, and heads the Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs.
When he arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday, he was welcomed by a large banner saying ‘I want genuine universal suffrage’. Another banner, with the same words, was unfurled a few minutes before his convoy drove through the city’s central district (pictured).
The Communist leader was unfazed. Before an official banquet, he met with four pan-democratic lawmakers, and listened to what they had to say.
The latter called for the resignation of pro-Beijing Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying who, after the Umbrella Revolution and the Occupy Central movement, presented the central government with a report that left out all of the demands put forward by students and progressives.
"Although it is a sharp demand for the pan-democrats to have asked Zhang to replace the current chief executive, that is part of their rights to ask," read an editorial published in the Global Times, the English language edition of Communist Party’s People's Daily.
Zhang himself had said that he had come to Hong Kong to speak, see and hear.
"It is an unprecedented move," said Emily Lau, chairwoman of the city’s Democratic Party and one of four pro-democracy lawmakers to attend a reception with Zhang on Wednesday. "It may show that they want to handle things a bit differently."
"The situation here is pretty grim . . . it’s not just the pro-democracy camp, but the business community, the professional people, the grassroots people, they are all deeply unhappy, dissatisfied, frustrated and some feel hopeless," she added.
For Lee Cheuk-yan, Beijing seems to have realised that a tough stand against calls for greater democracy risks stirring demands for independence.
"I think they believe with a softer posture maybe they can gain the good faith of the people of Hong Kong and avoid the problem of spreading views against China and separating from China."