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City Beat
Hong Kong
Tammy Tam
Tammy Tam

City Beat | Hong Kong elections and Hangzhou summit could reveal clues about Beijing’s attitude towards city

One potential chief executive candidate, John Tsang, is in Hangzhou for the G20 summit – and he is ready to talk to mainland officials if given the chance

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Financial Secretary John Tsang is missing the Legco elections, but he is attending the G20 summit. Photo: Sam Tsang
Tammy Tam

What a super busy weekend for reporters in town, with two major events on the same day – Hong Kong’s Legislative Council elections and the G20 summit in Hangzhou.

The former is a bigger deal for the local media as the result could be a key reference for Beijing to decide on the city’s next leader.

Of course it’s still too early to get a clear picture of Beijing’s intentions at this stage, as the G20, the biggest summit ever held in China so far, is apparently the top priority. Hosting the G20 means China has now become a “rule maker” in the global economy. Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said earlier that China would work closely with world leaders to achieve the goal of raising the G20’s GDP by at least 2 per cent by 2018.
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But there are those watching the events in Hangzhou for any clue on Hong Kong’s leadership race, given that Beijing is likely to make a decision on its preference by the end of this month – at the soonest. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah is in Hangzhou too, attending the finance ministers’ session as a member of the Chinese delegation.

The reason is simple: after Sunday’s Legco polls, another major political showdown is round the corner – the 2017 chief executive election.

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Some of the latest developments can be quite telling. That’s why some see Tsang’s presence in Hangzhou as not only an opportunity for him to further socialise with the nation’s top finance officials and their counterparts from other countries, but also a chance to bump into President Xi Jinping, all of which could prove beneficial to his future political prospects.

Tsang, who is widely seen as a possible challenger to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for the top job, already seems to have taken the G20 as a good excuse for more publicity, albeit in a delicate and cautious manner. This time it was RTHK that he picked for a one-on-one interview before heading to Hangzhou. He talked about Hong Kong’s role at the global summit, but also told the public broadcaster that he would have to consider many factors before making up his mind on whether to join the leadership race.

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