Seven pan-democrats break boycott call and attend government function
While some see invitation to central government reception as a breakthrough with Beijing, democrats say there is no sign of a thaw
Despite a call for a mass boycott from allies, at least seven pan-democratic lawmakers attended a spring reception hosted by the central government's liaison office last night.
In an unprecedented move, all 27 pan-democrat lawmakers were invited after members of the bloc met the liaison office's head at a Legislative Council lunch in July. Political observers suggest the gesture is meant to show Beijing's openness to discussing how elections in the city can be reformed.
But pan-democrats attending questioned such openness, noting that liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming , in his speech, reiterated that Beijing remained "strongly against" any reform idea that "deviates" from the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit, asked if his presence meant a breakthrough in ties with Beijing, said: "Does it look like it?"
Leong's party colleagues, Ronny Tong Ka-wah and legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok, also turned up, though Kwok said he was there only to "say hello".
"I always welcome communication [with Beijing] … but I hope it would be an occasion at which all parties can communicate," he said. "At [receptions] you just can't discuss anything in detail."
The Democratic Party's Sin Chung-kai, the education sector's Ip Kin-yuen and Frederick Fung Kin-kee of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood were also among the hundreds of guests at the Convention and Exhibition Centre.