City's politicians play tough game of 'pass the message'

Playing the role of Beijing's messenger is probably one of the trickiest tasks that Hong Kong politicians face.

As mainland officials rarely comment publicly on the city's issues under the "one country, two systems" principle, the central government's messages to the administration are often delivered behind closed doors.

As a result, the media has to rely heavily on the messenger - usually a pro-establishment figure - to shed light on Beijing's views on Hong Kong matters.

But sometimes, like in a game of Chinese whispers, these messengers fail to pass on the full message to their audiences.

Last month in Beijing, local delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference apparently did not deliver the complete comments of Politburo Standing Committee member Yu Zhengsheng in a closed-door meeting.

Asked by journalists on March 6 what he said during the meeting, some delegates cited Yu as saying he was confident that the Hong Kong government would handle properly the tensions between the mainland and the city.

But they failed to mention that in the meeting, Yu also rebuked the Hong Kong activists who waved colonial flags at recent protests and that he also warned that opposition forces would not be allowed to rule the city after universal suffrage was introduced.