New Beijing boss should worry local loyalists
- Those newly put in charge of Hong Kong affairs are more likely to go after the old guard of pro-establishment parties rather than the pan-democratic opposition
Pan-democrats have warned the appointment of a hardliner as head of Hong Kong and Macau affairs in Beijing means the central government is tightening its grip over the city. That may be so. More likely, though, is an impending “purge” of the chiefs of local political parties who have allied themselves with the Hong Kong and central governments.
Since the debacle with the district council elections in November, it was a foregone conclusion that those mainland Chinese officials in charge of local affairs would have to answer for the electoral outcome.
Wang Zhimin, the liaison office chief in Hong Kong, was the first to go. Now, Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, is being demoted as his office and the liaison office are merged.
China upgrades Hong Kong affairs with new chief
Both Zhang and Wang are of the relatively younger generation of bureaucrats and specialists. But whatever expertise they and their teams possessed didn’t help much with Hong Kong’s worst political crisis in decades unfolding since last summer.
Wang’s replacement is Luo Huining, a seasoned political operative, but with no real experience dealing with Hong Kong. Xia’s job in Beijing involves explaining its policy towards Hong Kong to foreign envoys, yet he has no particular experience in diplomacy.
What is noteworthy is that both Luo and Xia have been brought out of semi-retirement. While Hong Kong has become an international issue, Xi has few lieutenants he can trust. Rather than being hardliners, this aspect of their relationship, trustworthiness, may be more important.
Their priority now is to prevent another debacle with the Legislative Council elections in September. They are unlikely to go after the opposition and provoke the local electorate. However, they should find better candidates to replace the old guard of the pro-Beijing parties. Unfortunately for them, there aren’t many good ones.
