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Emily Lau was among the leading Democrats to join Wednesday's talks. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Signs of a thaw? Hong Kong Democratic Party members hold behind-closed-doors talks with top Beijing official

Invitation to pan-democratic party seems to be sign of central authorities offering olive branch after failed reform and ahead of district polls

Beijing appears to be extending an olive branch to the Democratic Party, with a key mainland official in charge of Hong Kong affairs hosting core members on Wednesday to discuss issues including governance.

It was the first meeting between the two sides since the Democrats joined fellow pan-democratic lawmakers in blocking a Beijing-dictated model for electoral reform in June - and was held possibly with an eye to the next political battle: crunch district council polls in November.

The lunch invitation to the five Democrats came from Feng Wei, deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. On the agenda were problems of governance in a divided city and the vexed question of reform of the 2017 chief executive poll, said party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing, who attended with vice-chairmen Lo Kin-hei and Andrew Wan Siu-kin and two others.

Lau said she had turned down Feng's invitation before the reform vote as Beijing had ruled out any concessions back then. But they agreed to see him this week, she said, because the city was steeped in myriad woes and they wanted to raise the problems directly with Beijing officials.

"The central government should understand Hongkongers' anger," she said, adding they had told Feng that Leung Chun-ying was not a suitable chief executive for the city.

News of the ice-breaking exchange was greeted with dismay by some party insiders. They felt it was unwise for their leaders to meet Beijing officials without notifying the central committee, the party's decision-making body.

"Based on past experience, the [party] would meet Beijing officials only after detailed deliberation on the central committee," Southern district councillor Au Nok-hin, a committee member, said. He suspected Beijing wanted to split the pan-democratic camp through such secret sessions ahead of the district polls.

Lau denied the talks were "secretive", though she said they would not have been held if the party had alerted everyone beforehand.

"Beijing does not want us to publicise it. You may not think it's the right thing to do, but that's the way they behave," she told the media after reporting the meeting to the committee last night.

"It is very important for us to have a face-to-face meeting with Beijing officials to tell them things that those people they meet frequently will not tell them."

In 2010, the Democrats were deeply split and ostracised from parts of the camp after they accepted concessions at closed-door talks with Beijing officials and supported a reform package. Among those in attendance was Feng, then director of legal affairs at Beijing's liaison office.

The Democrats lost ground in the district elections of 2011 and legislative polls a year later.

But Lau said whether the meeting would affect their poll performance was the least of their concerns.

She said it was petty to prioritise election concerns over other matters, adding they did not want to miss such a rare chance to reflect the voices of Hongkongers and to tell Beijing not to meddle in the city's affairs.

Feng did not promise to meet the Democrats regularly. Lau said she urged him to talk to parties across the political spectrum.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Democrats met Beijing official on governance
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