Breaking the ice: former Hong Kong lawmaker Ronny Tong to lead Path of Democracy delegation in Beijing talks
The group will meet members of three think tanks and are hoping to hold talks on the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ and the Basic Law
Former pan-democrat lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah will lead a delegation from his think tank, Path of Democracy, to Beijing on Wednesday on the first visit to the capital by democracy campaigners since last summer’s failed political reform vote .
The 11-member delegation will exchange ideas on various issues with three prominent think tanks, including the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, but its chances of meeting Beijing officials are uncertain.
Lawmaker Ronny Tong launches think tank to improve Hong Kong-mainland China relations
“It is an academic exchange,” said Tong, who quit the Civic Party last year to form the moderate Path of Democracy after becoming disillusioned with the increasingly radical stance of his pan-democrat colleagues. “We will only know [whether a meeting with officials] can be fixed when we arrive in Beijing.”
Tong’s think tank earlier expressed its wish to meet with Basic Law Committee head Li Fei and Feng Wei, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, through Beijing’s liaison office in the city, which has spent months arranging the trip.
Li Hu, the office’s deputy legal chief, will accompany the delegation.
Tong hoped their visit would help reverse what he called “an abnormal relationship” and mark the beginning of regular exchanges between the pan-democrats and Beijing.
“I do not want [the trip] to be just a friendly signal issued by the central government towards the so-called ‘third road’,” he said, referring to the middle-path approach he advocates to bridge the political divide.
Ronny Tong think tank Path of Democracy mulls visit to Beijing
“I hope the central government will fully change its policy towards Hong Kong so that Beijing officials and groups can have a normal interaction with the pan-democratic camp.”
During the two-day programme, Tong said, they would raise the problems encountered by the city in implementing “one country, two systems” and the Basic Law, such as the recent case of the missing booksellers. The delegation will also call on Beijing to restart the whole constitutional reform process as soon as possible.
The group would not deliberately bring up the contentious independence issue, which has touched a raw nerve in Beijing, Tong said, but he believed the topic would inevitably surface.
Apart from meeting the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies chaired by former Beijing official Chen Zuoer, the delegation will also hold talks with the Chinese Society of Constitutional Law and the Hong Kong Basic Law and Macau Basic Law Research Association.
Path of Democracy consulted the pan-democrats on what messages they hoped to deliver to Beijing, Tong added.
The think tank also plans to field candidates in the Legislative Council elections in September.
“I think an election is the best platform to illustrate our political philosophy to Hongkongers,” Tong said, although he admitted the large number of pro-democracy candidates was “worrying”.
