Under the 'one country, two systems' principle, central government legislators and advisers play no part in the administration of Hong Kong. That is why Hongkongers have expressed grave concern about two media reports that came out during the recent annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The first report was on Vice-President Xi Jinping's message to Hong Kong NPC deputies that they should lead the Hong Kong public in tackling the financial crisis and, in so doing, offer ideas and suggestions to the Hong Kong government.
The second report covered a closed-door meeting between Li Guikang, deputy director of the central government's liaison office, and Hong Kong delegates of the CPPCC. Mr Li told the delegates that his office had reached a 10-point agreement with the Hong Kong government on measures to enhance the participation of these delegates in local affairs. These included the nomination of CPPCC delegates by the government, their appointment to Hong Kong's public bodies and the setting up of a 'working mechanism' to help delegates' participation in local affairs.
Both the liaison office and the government later denied the existence of such an agreement. Another deputy director of the liaison office, Li Gang, sought to play down the issue by saying that these deputies and delegates, like any members of the public, were 'duty bound' to take part in Hong Kong affairs. But these patriots are not ordinary Hong Kong citizens. All 30-odd local NPC deputies and some 40 CPPCC delegates are part of the 800-member Election Committee which elects the chief executive. Outside occasional meetings with the chief executive, they have no official role in the government's executive and advisory bodies, and rightly so. Some are members of the executive or legislative council; they also participate in advisory bodies.
There is no problem for a CPPCC delegate to take part in Hong Kong affairs. It is the same for an NPC deputy, except that the person cannot be a Hong Kong legislator at the same time, to avoid a conflict of interest between the two law-making bodies. So there is some credence to the story that the root cause of the recent controversy is that many local CPPCC delegates are not content with the status quo. They want to establish a formal arrangement whereby the government is 'duty bound' to consult them on a regular basis and appoint them to public bodies.
It is a pity that the liaison office has failed to remind the CPPCC delegates that they are appointed by Beijing to offer advice at the national level, and not to the Hong Kong government. They can certainly play a useful role in offering advice on nationwide policies that may have an impact on Hong Kong. They can also advise the Hong Kong administration on matters such as the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement or regional co-operation between Hong Kong and mainland provinces.
