Hong Kong delegates to China’s NPC should help boost Sino-US ties, says Yang Jiechi
Country’s top man on foreign affairs in surprise appeal at NPC meeting
Beijing’s top official overseeing foreign affairs made an unprecedented call yesterday for Hong Kong delegates to the national legislature to play a bigger role in developing Sino-American relations.
State councillor Yang Jiechi surprised Hong Kong and Macau members of the National People’s Congress by skipping a scheduled Hainan provincial meeting to join their session in the capital, a move that was only revealed to delegates the previous night.
Also present at the meeting was China’s tourism chief, Li Jinzu, who urged Hong Kong to improve its services and friendliness in the wake of localist protests against mainland tourists.
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China watchers saw Yang’s unexpected input in the meeting as indicative of a new approach to get Hong Kong more involved in boosting ties with the nation’s most important trading partner, a job that former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa often handles unofficially.
“Sino-US relations are important and have to be kept stable,” Yang said, according to Hong Kong delegation head Maria Tam Wai-chu . “All sectors in Hong Kong, including NPC delegates, should – wherever possible – facilitate mutual communications during non-government interactions with the US.”
Yang, former foreign minister and also deputy head the party’s central co-ordination group for Hong Kong and Macau, was responding to local delegate Andrew Yao Cho-fai’s argument that China needs the support of American media and congressmen to boost diplomatic and business ties with the US.
For years now, Tung has served as a key back channel between state leaders in Zhongnanhai and the White House, having helped plan and joined President Xi Jinping on his two official visits to the US.