Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying set to meet Kuomintang chairman next week
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is expected to hold an unprecedented meeting with Kuomintang chairman Eric Chu Li-luan when he visits Hong Kong next week.
Chu, who will visit in his capacity as mayor of New Taipei, will become the first ever serving KMT chairman to visit the city after he was elected unopposed in January to lead the ruling party in Taiwan.
He has also been tipped to represent his party in the presidential election next year.
Two sources - both speaking on condition of anonymity - told the that discussions were under way on a meeting.
"The details still have to be ironed out, but the direction is that they will meet," a government source said.
Chu, who arrives in Hong Kong tomorrow, will deliver a speech on inter-city exchanges and economic development at a forum organised by the AsiaPacific Taiwan Federation of Industry and Commerce on the following day.
Another person familiar with the matter said Leung would not attend the forum, but both Leung and Chu were expected to attend a dinner reception hosted by the federation.
The government source said the reception could be a possible occasion for them to meet, while a private meeting of about 15 minutes to half an hour could also be an option.
"It is not like secret diplomacy, but any arrangement with press involvement requires consent from both sides," the source said. "They [Chu's office] may have their own considerations."
The source added that Leung would not convey any political message from the central government even if a meeting was arranged. "By allowing him entry [to Hong Kong], Beijing has already made a friendly gesture."
Veteran China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu said it would be the first time a serving KMT chairman had entered the borders of the People's Republic of China since 1949. He also said it might be Chu who had political concerns about meeting Leung because Taiwan's public generally frowned on their politicians having high-profile contact with Beijing-linked officials.
