My Take | Beijing shows softer side as Carrie Lam takes grip
- The political climate in Hong Kong has become much more favourable to the central government, and there are signs that it is leaning towards a more moderate stance
The central government is generally considered to have taken a much harsher line on Hong Kong ever since the Occupy protests of 2014. There are, however, growing signs that it is leaning towards a more moderate stance.
One indication is that more than 200 non-Cantonese speaking officials fro Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong have been instructed to master the language, on the order of Vice-Premier Han Zheng. This may be seen as a gesture of goodwill and an olive branch.
Moreover, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director Feng Wei, who was to retire at 60, has been instructed to stay on. By all accounts a moderate, he has long advocated dialogue with mainstream pan-democrats.
He has argued that activists calling for independence are a minority who do not represent most Hong Kong people, and attributed a good deal of the city’s malaise and animosity towards the mainland as stemming from hardships facing many locals in terms of housing and stagnant wages.
It has been reported that Feng led a team from his office to the city in an informal survey of the attitudes of people from a cross section of society on a range of issues.