Update | ‘Hong Kong leader is above the executive branch, legislature and courts’, says Beijing’s liaison chief
Controversial words by director of liaison office effectively end the notion of separation of powers in the city and spark political row
Beijing's top official in Hong Kong has provoked a fresh political row by giving the city's top leader a position of authority over the executive, the judiciary and the legislature - effectively ending the notion of separation of powers in the city.
The comments yesterday from Zhang Xiaoming , chief of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong, sparked an immediate backlash from critics who accused Beijing of redefining the scope and status of the city's chief executive.
The concept of the separation of powers was applicable only to sovereign states, Zhang said at a function to mark the 25th anniversary of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
“The chief executive’s dual responsibility [to both Hong Kong and Beijing] means he has a special legal position which is above the executive, legislative and judicial institutions,” Zhang said during his 26-minute speech in the morning, in his latest politically sensitive comments. The Basic Law is Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
Zhang also says Hong Kong is a jurisdiction directly under the central government, with the appointed chief executive as the core, in an “executive-led, judicially independent political system”.
