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Xi shows who’s boss: Hong Kong’s Leung Chun-ying knocked off his perch to smaller seat

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Is sitting on the same level a thing of the past for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive? Photo: Simon Song

The method of delivery may have been oblique but the message was unequivocal.

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Etiquette took centre stage yesterday when in a carefully calibrated act of political choreography, Beijing put the SAR firmly in its place.

The occasion was Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s annual duty visit to the capital , a path well trodden by his predecessors, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Tung Chee-hwa.

Then-Hong Kong Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, sat on equal level with then-President Mr Hu Jintao in Beijing for the annual duty visit. Photo: ISD
Then-Hong Kong Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, sat on equal level with then-President Mr Hu Jintao in Beijing for the annual duty visit. Photo: ISD

But in a move that reignited debate over the “one country, two systems” constitutional arrangement, Beijing chose who sat where, on what, and in which surroundings, to underline who is the boss.

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At previous annual meetings, Hong Kong’s chief executive sat side-by-side with state leaders on identical grand chairs, an ornate table between them, much like the arrangement for overseas leaders visiting Beijing. But this time things were different.

READ MORE: Leung Chun-ying’s shift of power seats sparks debate on Hong Kong Chief Executive’s footing with Xi Jinping

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