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Leung Chun-ying (CY Leung)
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Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying takes questions in Government House. Photo: Nora Tam

Exclusive | Chief Executive CY Leung seeks new Beijing deal on detention as he gives strongest hint yet on being game for second term

Chief executive says notification mechanism when city’s residents are held on the mainland must meet same standards as with foreign countries

Beijing should inform Hong Kong “as soon as possible” when it ­detains its residents and improve the notification mechanism to the standards of the city’s arrangements with foreign countries, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has told the Post.

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, Leung also revealed his intention to wait until after September to decide whether to seek a second term, even as he gave his strongest hint yet that he was ­raring to go. He described how much he enjoyed his job and ribbed those who often predicted his resignation.

The chief executive spoke of solving the notification problem as the central government agreed on Monday to start discussions on the mechanism. This was in response to a request from Leung last week prompted by public concern about mainland authorities ­detaining Hong Kong booksellers without informing the city or giving them recourse to due process.

Before the Executive Council’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, Leung was asked when he would travel to to Beijing to discuss the notification mechanism.

The chief executive gave no concrete timeline but described the work ahead.

“We agreed there is room for improvement, and the first stage of our work is for the experts in local and mainland departments to discuss it,” he said, adding he hoped progress would be made “as soon as possible”.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying seeks new Beijing deal

In his interview with the Post, Leung explained the purpose of the mechanism.

“The starting point, and to me it’s basic and fundamental, is that we want to know as soon as possible when a Hong Kong resident is arrested by a jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong,” he said. “That applies to foreign governments and should also apply to the mainland, because we are two systems.”

Leung did not rule out the possibility of personally going to Beijing to take up the matter, as Xinhua reported yesterday that the Ministry of Public Security had ­invited the Hong Kong government to send a delegation to the capital to discuss the notification mechanism, in place since 2001.

Even as he said this, Leung also stressed he had never come across the term “central special investigative unit”, identified by Causeway Bay Books co-founder Lam Wing-kee as the agency which detained him on the mainland for eight months.

As for his career plans and the possibility of a second term, he stressed the importance of experience and shrugged off talk of a looming “Anyone but CY” campaign by his opponents.

The timing suggests he will wait for the September 4 Legislative Council election results to assess the lay of the political land. If the pro-establishment camp receives a drubbing, it will be seen as a proxy of voters rejecting the status quo and, with that, Leung’s re-election chances may also be in jeopardy.

“Five years ago, back in June 2011, I had not made up my mind. So now in June 2016, I have not made up my mind. There’s still plenty of time,” he said.

Leung Chun-ying says he is not put off by criticism of him. Photo: Nora Tam

“I have enjoyed my work every day in the past four years, despite the challenges. I enjoy seeing ­results. People may not talk about the positive results, the accomplishments every day, but you know they are out there.”

Asked if he had an extra edge as an incumbent, he said: “A second term carries certain benefits ... because experience is important.”

Over the course of an hour and 40 minutes at Government House, a relaxed-looking Leung touched on a range of topics, from the limitations of Hong Kong’s current political system and the July 1 rally that has been labelled “Showdown Against 689” – in mocking reference to the number of votes he received from a 1,200-member election committee in 2012 – to his agenda for the remainder of his term which ends next June.

He said he was going to the ground to get feedback on his policy moves and re-election, even as he expressed satisfaction with the progress his government had made on several policy fronts – from increasing the housing supply to tackling poverty and ageing issues.

Asked if he had received positive signals from Beijing on his re-election, apart from the comments by Zhang Dejiang when the third-ranking leader visited in May, Leung said: “Mr Zhang has been very supportive of myself as the current chief executive.”

He did give a direct answer when asked if there had been other signals since, saying: “I have been pretty open to relaying what the central government and central authority leaders said about my work.”

Leung Chun-ying shows off his garden in Government House. Photo: Nora Tam

Pressed on when he would decide, he said: “It may not be as early as September. As I said, [the last time] I didn’t make my decision until I believe it was November 2011.”

He indicated in September 2011 he was “preparing to run” in the 2012 election and formally declared his candidacy in November.

Despite his sagging popularity ratings, Leung questioned the reliability of opinion polls, declaring that he thoroughly enjoyed his job, and saw personal attacks as being part and parcel of the job.

Leung also did not balk at the new rallying cry of “ABC”, an acronym for “Anyone But CY”, and the burgeoning movement to use it as a campaign platform in the Legco polls.

“Well, it’s politics. ABC is not news. All the things about ABC is not one dimensional. The other dimension that I’d like you and other people to know is that I remain as friendly as possible, as far as I’m concerned, with people who want to advance their ABC objective. I have never, never shouted back.”

As for the annual July 1 mass rallythat is often filled with calls for his resignation, he sounded almost defiant: “Some demonstrators actually asked me to resign even before I took office. People even speculated on good authority that I will resign last summer, and I will resign in December and I will resign in January, but they keep proving themselves wrong.”

Additional reporting by Tony Cheung

 

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