Central Policy Unit has always served government of the day, analysts say
Critics of the Central Policy Unit accuse it of politicisation, but analysts say its role of serving the chief executive has never changed
When Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying delivers his maiden policy address a week from today, there is little doubt that the fingerprints of the man tasked with leading the government's think tank will be all over it.
The Central Policy Unit is considered one of the most opaque bodies in government, and its role has continued to evolve in the 24 years since it was created by the colonial government. Drafting the chief executive's annual agenda-setting speech has always been a part of its work.
Few doubt that Shiu Sin-por - who put the CPU in the spotlight shortly after taking office when he said he saw part of his role as winning the battle for public opinion on behalf of the government - will be one of the chief writers of Leung's speech.
When former governor David Wilson gave the speech 24 years ago, that job fell to Leo Goodstadt, the founding director of the CPU.
And while the unit has faced a flurry of accusations that it is trying to extend its role beyond being the government's principal think tank, Goodstadt says he sees little change in its fundamental purpose, and that it still serves three masters - the chief executive (or governor previously), financial secretary and chief secretary.
"It is not the unit trying to do something [new] - that is not the case," said the 73-year-old Irishman, an academic, journalist and economist.
Shiu's efforts to expand the influence of the CPU have three dimensions, according to critics.