At the Legislative Council question-and-answer session last Thursday, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee asked Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen whether he would support the vindication of the students involved in the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989. In response, Mr Tsang trotted out the well-worn official line that, as China had made significant progress in many areas, contributing to Hong Kong's economic prosperity in the past 20 years, Hong Kong people, including him, now came to a more objective assessment of the situation. He also said his view represented that of the people of Hong Kong in general.
The 20-odd pan-democratic members lost no time in questioning the representativeness of the chief executive's view and walked out of the meeting in protest. After the session, Mr Tsang clarified that his view on June 4 did not represent that of all Hongkongers; and he apologised for his wrong choice of words.
That the chief executive could have made such a serious public relations blunder is an interesting case. First, Mr Tsang's comments on June 4 could not have been off-the-cuff remarks. The Chief Executive's Office treats every legislature Q&A session seriously. It is reasonable to assume that the matter had been discussed, and a suitable response included in his brief for the session.
Mr Tsang's main message on June 4 - that Hong Kong people should not delve into the rights and wrongs of what happened 20 years ago but should, instead, focus on the progress made since then - has been the standard official line in recent years. But there is no evidence that a substantial proportion of Hong Kong people subscribe to this view. Thus, the added point that this view represents that of the people of Hong Kong in general was probably included to make it more pleasing to Beijing.
As it turned out, the chief executive and whoever prepared his response seriously underestimated the adverse reaction, not only from the pan-democrats but also from most of the public. Also, in adopting the official line, the chief executive's team did not seem to realise that the Chinese leaders had in fact become more conciliatory and open recently on the lessons of June 4.
During an interview on September 30 last year, CNN showed Premier Wen Jiabao a picture taken before the Tiananmen Square crackdown depicting him in the company of then-premier Zhao Ziyang visiting the students on hunger strike. Mr Wen did not use the standard 'forget the past and look ahead' line that our chief executive used recently. Instead, he said that, while moving ahead with economic reforms, China also needed to advance political reforms, as comprehensive development required comprehensive reform. He went on to talk about the development of democracy in China.