Senior Communist Party official Liu Yandong yesterday appealed to Hong Kong's warring political factions to find common ground, as she ended a five-day visit seen as an attempt to placate anger over the veto on universal suffrage by 2007.
Asked about allegations of threats from the mainland against outspoken radio talk-show hosts, Ms Liu said freedom of expression in Hong Kong had all the protection it needed in the Basic Law.
Ms Liu, director of the party's United Front Work Department, said people were free to discuss all kinds of issues through the exchange of constructive opinions.
'It's not that arguments are not allowed. The crux of the issue is that people should have the common goal of seeking common ground, while reserving differences,' she said before returning to Beijing.
Ms Liu, who did not meet the pro-democracy camp, said: 'Because my schedule is quite tight, there are some people whom I haven't met. But I think of two phrases: There will be ample time in the future. We will meet again some day.'
Ms Liu has come under fire for failing to meet leaders of the pro-democracy camp. Only independent lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and former Bar Association chief Alan Leong Kah-kit were invited to attend a luncheon as representatives of the lawyers' group.
