Beijing to expand Hong Kong office with two new departments focusing on national security and propaganda
- Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office spokesman Yang Guang expected to head new department dealing with disseminating official information
- Former liaison office legal affairs director Wang Zhenmin tipped to run national security affairs department
Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs will be expanded to create two new departments covering national security and propaganda, a move some observers say signals the central government’s determination to win the “ideological battle” in the city.
According to multiple mainland Chinese sources, the new department responsible for national security affairs under the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) will be led by former liaison office legal affairs director Wang Zhenmin.
The sweeping legislation which Beijing imposed on Hong Kong last June outlaws acts of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
A second source said the new propaganda department would take up part of the work from the office’s liaison department, and cater to the increasing needs to disseminate official information, strengthen the delivery of press conferences, approve and coordinate the Hong Kong and Macau journalists on the mainland, and “manage the media scene” in the two administrative regions.