'There is no neutrality': CY Leung signs petition against Occupy Central

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying brushed off the question of political neutrality yesterday as he publicly added his signature to the petition denouncing the Occupy Central movement.

"There is no neutrality in it," he said when asked if he should have refrained from taking sides. "There is no 'middle area' between breaking the law and not breaking the law."

Coming just hours after the Democratic Party met Beijing's top representative in the city, Zhang Xiaoming , Leung's signing raised questions about whether political divisions would be deepened at a time when a middle ground is being sought on reform.

Petition co-organiser and Alliance for Peace and Democracy leader Robert Chow Yung defended the chief executive's action, saying Leung's signing was "high profile" only because journalists "chose to cover" it.

But Leung's plan was publicised yesterday afternoon when the government's Information Services Department announced he would sign the petition and meet the media at the General Chamber of Commerce's Admiralty office at 5.15pm. He was accompanied by his office director Edward Yau Tang-wah, Chow and two alliance spokesmen.

Leung dismissed suggestions he was misusing public resources by signing the petition during working hours and bringing his media relations team.

The chief executive said he was signing the petition in a "personal capacity" and brought his team because he knew reporters would be interested about matters other than the petition.