Beijing’s new Hong Kong envoy Luo Huining was a surprise choice. Here’s why

Sent to deal with a city in crisis when he was supposed to be easing into semi-retirement, he is seen as capable but has no experience of the financial hub

Pro-democracy camp’s landslide victory in November’s district council polls may have been ‘final straw’ to prompt a change at the liaison office

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Published: 7:00am, 7 Jan 2020Updated: 8:36pm, 17 Feb 2020

Bringing a political veteran with no relevant experience out of semi-retirement and making him the top envoy to Hong Kong shows Beijing’s determination to reset its policy on the city, according to insiders and observers.

Luo Huining’s appointment as the new director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong came as a surprise even to Communist Party insiders. But while he is seen as capable, he was an unlikely candidate for the job.

Having turned 65 in October, Luo was supposed to be easing into semi-retirement. Under party rules, senior officials of Luo’s rank are relieved from key positions at the age of 65. They are then transferred to less demanding roles – usually in China’s two parliamentary houses – before they formally retire at 68.

Luo appeared to be following the script until Saturday’s announcement. After stepping down as party secretary of Shanxi province in November, he was named deputy director of the financial and economic affairs committee of the National People’s Congress on December 28.

But seven days later, Beijing suddenly appointed him as its new representative in Hong Kong – at a time when the city is facing its worst political crisis in decades, with seven months of anti-government protests showing no sign of abating. The protests were sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill and have broadened to other demands, including universal suffrage.

Luo Huining addresses the media on his first day as head of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong on Monday. Photo: May Tse

Luo’s abrupt appointment suggests it was a decision made recently, and it was kept on a need-to-know basis until the last minute. A source familiar with the discussions told the South China Morning Post that President Xi Jinping only finalised the decision after his trip to Macau in the third week of December.

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