More respect, but no immunity: what CY Leung can expect from new job on China’s top advisory body
Key questions answered about Hong Kong chief executive’s appointment as vice-chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
How did Leung get the job?
A vice-chairman needs to first secure majority support from the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) to be nominated as a candidate before being voted in by more than 2,000 CPPCC delegates.
What do CPCC vice-chairmen actually do?
A CPPCC vice-chairman helps the chairman carry out his work, participates in meetings among the body’s chairman and vice-chairmen and deals with key matters before the body’s standing committee.
What are the perks and privileges?
These are largely nominal, but Leung will be offered free security guards of a sub-state level and might be received with more respect when abroad. He will also receive a monthly salary of about HK$12,000.
As CPPCC vice-chairman, is Leung immune from investigation or prosecution by an anti-graft watchdog?
And the answer to the question is a resounding no, if the experience of former CPPCC vice-chairman Su Rong is any indication.
Will new role clash with his chief executive duties?
CPPCC delegates, including Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, have said Leung’s new role will not clash with that of the chief executive as the CPPCC is only an advisory body. But the pan-democrats have argued there will be a conflict of interests as the chief executive under the “one country, two systems” principle should not be a state leader at the same time.
How many CPPCC vice-chairmen are there?
Twenty-one in total, including former chief executive Tung Chee-wah and ex-Macau chief executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah. Both Tung and Ho were appointed as the top advisory body’s vice-chairmen after they stepped down as chief executive.
The body’s current chairman is Yu Zhengsheng, who is also a member of the Politburo Standing Committee – Beijing’s highest decision-making body.