CY Leung 'notified' Beijing before unveiling stamp duty
It raised concerns that Leung could have breached the Executive Council's confidentiality rule and the principle of Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong, and that the information could have been leaked to investors.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying confessed yesterday to phoning Beijing about a new stamp duty to be levied on non-local homebuyers in Hong Kong ahead of announcing the tax.
He said he was "notifying" Wang Guangya , director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office under the State Council, for the sake of "internal and external diplomacy" and denied he was seeking approval.
His admission came two days after Wang was cited by lawmakers as saying Leung had called to inform him of the new 15 per cent duty a day before it was unveiled in October.
It raised concerns that Leung could have breached the Executive Council's confidentiality rule and the principle of Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong, and that the information could have been leaked to investors.
"It was not a request for instructions … since the buyer's stamp duty is levied on non-local buyers, it is necessary to deal with internal diplomacy and external diplomacy," Leung said when asked about the telephone call he made on the night of October 25.
"Hence, after we decided to impose the buyer's stamp duty - after the decision was made - we notified the relevant party. This was because we need to deal with internal diplomacy and external diplomacy."