Former Hong Kong leader, Leung Chun-ying, was expected to remain as CPPCC vice-chairman, while vice-chairman and former city chief Tung Chee-hwa was to retire. Former health secretary Ko Wing-man and billionaire Pansy Ho Chiu-king were also tipped to join the standing committee of the advisory body.

The “two sessions” opened a week after Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu held talks with Guangdong leaders to speed up the integration of Hong Kong into the bay area, Beijing’s plan to link up 11 southern Chinese cities and tap the potential of its combined population of 86 million.

Party leaders front runners to represent Hong Kong on China’s top legislative body

The meetings in the capital come against the backdrop of worsening tensions between China and the West, which has accused Beijing of using the national security law to suppress dissent in the financial hub.

“[We] encourage Hong Kong delegates to continue to speak out and take the initiative on promoting the enactment and implementation of the Hong Kong national security law and supporting the NPC in improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” Wang said.

He also highlighted how the political advisers could respond to the West’s narrative of China in line with the “spirit of struggle”.

“Solemn statements have been made against bills related to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang that were concocted by the US and Europe, as well as [Nancy] Pelosi’s treachery in Taiwan, to resolutely defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” he said.

Pelosi, the former speaker of the United States House of Representatives, angered Beijing by visiting the self-ruled island, which China views as a renegade province, in August last year.

Ties grew further strained last month when two American senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill seeking to shut down Hong Kong’s economic and trade offices in the US. A week later, Beijing’s foreign affairs representative in Hong Kong set out “three red lines” for the US consulate in the city, warning it not to engage in political infiltration.

CPPCC vice-chairman Leung reminded Hong Kong delegates to view their obligations as members of the nation’s legislature and political advisory body as ones that extended across the whole year.

“What’s asked of them is not just a 10-day or eight-day meeting in Beijing every year,” he told an online press conference. “It’s a 365-day job.”

Lee, who headed to the capital on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s opening of the NPC session, also pledged to work with the city’s delegates to boost the city’s integration into Beijing’s overall development plan.

He said he would return to Beijing for the closing of the NPC session on March 13 and would meet ministerial officials to discuss ways to work better together in a variety of policy areas.

“We’ll find out where we can achieve great outcomes and come up with win-win plans that deliver the greatest returns in the shortest time,” Lee said.

Hong Kong deputies to the NPC, meanwhile, said they would put forward proposals to strengthen links between mainland China and the city, including deepening academic exchanges within the bay area, bolster patriotic education and establish the first temple in Hong Kong to worship Confucius.

Delegate Wilson Shum Ho-kit said he would propose increasing talent mobility in the bay area and narrowing the wage gap between Hong Kong and the other interlinked cities in hope of enticing young people to work in the financial centre.

Former CPPCC member Lau Siu-kai, a consultant for the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said the bay area development held the key to the city’s economic growth, which in turn addressed a broad range of social issues.

“[Beijing’s] priority has always been how to handle Hong Kong’s development, especially integrating it into the Greater Bay Area and taking advantage of the opportunities coming out of it,” he said.

What Beijing ruling on overseas lawyers in Hong Kong national security cases means

Lau also noted that while the national security law and overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system were firmly in place, Beijing was still concerned about local and foreign opposition to the direction of the financial hub.

“Even if the systems are established, [Beijing wants] them to be more stable and gain more trust from the Hong Kong people,” he said. “Of course it’s best to earn recognition of the West.”

At an NPC press conference on Saturday, session spokesman Wang Chao also defended the interpretation of the national security law by China’s top legislative body, the NPC Standing Committee, last December.

He said the ruling had “made clear” the methods to be used to resolve matters such as the use of foreign lawyers in trials that involved national security.

The city’s Department of Justice has proposed a law amendment that would require the courts to ask for the chief executive’s permission on foreign lawyer applications to take part in such sensitive cases. The Legislative Council will discuss the proposal on March 17.

Additional reporting by Ezra Cheung