Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying this morning laughed off reports suggesting Beijing could use as much as HK$300 million to bribe pan-democratic lawmakers to vote for the reform package to be scrutinised next week. Leung, who is on a visit to Canada and the United States, was referring to a report in pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily on Thursday, which cited People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip saying he had heard of rumours which pointed at Beijing’s “money tactics” in luring pan-democrats to back reform. Chan further said he had heard some lawmakers saying the central government was willing to pay up to HK$100 million for a vote supporting the proposal. The central government would not do anything to get the package passed when it was impossible to be passed Leung Chun-ying But speaking in Chicago, Leung brushed aside the accusations as he said everyone could judge the report “based on common sense”. “The central government is sincere and determined about universal suffrage, and it is doing it in accordance with the law, including the Basic Law … and Hong Kong’s overall and long-term interest,” he said. “The central government would not do anything to get the package passed when it was impossible to be passed.” He also said lawmakers should “not bind themselves together” when voting on the proposal for how the city will elect its chief executive in 2017, but should vote “individually” after considering Hong Kong’s long-term interest. Referring to the latest rolling poll conducted by three universities which found supporters and opponents of the government’s blueprint are for the first time exactly matched at 42.8 per cent, Leung said Hongkongers should not only take reference from one single poll. When asked how lawmakers should vote if there were more people opposing the package than those who supported it, Leung said: “There is more than one opinion poll on political reform – different polls asked different questions, collected different answers, and produced different trends on the support and opposition towards the package as well as whether lawmakers should approve the package,” he said. “So as the government, lawmakers and residents, we should listen and draw reference from different polls.” Speaking on the sidelines of a trade symposium in Chicago, Executive Councillor Laura Cha Shih May-lung said that she was not worried about the poll. “Most of the people I contacted wanted the package to be passed, because we discussed about it for two years,” Cha said. “[Poll results] really depend on how the question was asked, so I don’t really believe in opinion polls,” Cha said. On Mers, meanwhile, Leung said the government had been “highly alert”. It is staying alert on suspected cases and on quarantine work at the airport, but it also relies on residents to report voluntarily if they were sick, and for countries such as South Korea to publicise the latest situation about the virus in their territories, he added. Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam