Rita Fan to use 'own style' in NPC

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, newly elected Hong Kong deputy to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, has vowed to maintain her own style in her new role.

Mrs Fan has replaced former deputy Tsang Hin-chi, who was renowned for his fervent patriotism and confrontational stance with pan-democrats.

But in an interview, Mrs Fan indicated that her style was unlikely to be as confrontational as Mr Tsang's, neither would she be a mere mouthpiece for the Standing Committee.

'I have a great amount of respect for Mr Tsang,' said Mrs Fan. 'But we are two different people ... we have our own ways of dealing with things.'

However, she also insisted she had no plans to redefine her role and that she would be true to herself.

When it comes to explaining the stance of the central authorities, she also pledged to be transparent in her reasoning and her opinions.

Mrs Fan said she had set herself no grand objectives because there was still a lot to learn about her new role. But one of her aims was to improve Hong Kong people's understanding of mainland processes and mentality, citing misunderstanding as the root of many controversies.

The public's perception of Mr Tsang was one such example.

On the other hand, mainland officials' reaction to the establishment of an office for NPC deputies in Hong Kong was also the result of a misunderstanding, since the deputies had only been requesting a form of secretariat to support their work.

Mrs Fan was elected to the top legislative body in Beijing earlier this month with 2,896 out of a possible 2,948 votes - the ninth highest number among 173 candidates from around the country. She won more votes than NPC deputy secretary-general Qiao Xiaoyang , who had the backing of 2,891 deputies.