Luo Huining, then director of the liaison office, talks to local residents at a community welfare association hall in Hong Kong on September 30, 2021. Photo: Xinhua
Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3207507/beijings-change-envoy-hong-kong-signals-end-clean-and-start-rebuilding Hong Kong
Beijing’s change of envoy in Hong Kong signals the end of the clean-up and start of rebuilding
- During his tenure as liaison office director, Luo Huining was tasked with restoring order to Hong Kong after the chaos of 2019
- His departure is the sign of a job well done, and new appointee Zheng Yanxiong can focus on building stronger ties with the mainland
Newly appointed liaison office head Zheng Yanxiong meets the media before his first day work on January 16. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
The appointment of Zheng Yanxiong as the new director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong was sprung upon the city as Hongkongers were getting ready to hop into the Year of the Rabbit.
The departure of Luo Huining wasn’t surprising and should be celebrated. It’s nothing personal against Luo, but rather, a testament to how well he has done the job he was assigned to do: bring order back to the city after the chaos of 2019.
Luo is known to be an enforcer, and several important changes, such as reform of the city’s electoral system and implementation of the national security law, were made during his tenure.
Luo wasn’t here to stay or make friends; he was never meant to. He came in without having any previous working relationship with the city, and he didn’t interact much with local political and business leaders.
Early on, he let the city’s political leaders – at least the biggest pro-establishment political party – feel the chill of his cold shoulder. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong sent a delegation to the Liaison Office for a visit a day after Luo took the reins. Luo didn’t even bother to give the group an audience.
This was a departure from the type of close relationship previous directors had with the groups like the DAB. Zhang Xiaoming’s calligraphy helped raise HK$32.6 million for the party during his tenure as director of the liaison office.
That Zheng is now on board signals the next stage of Beijing’s management of this special administrative region. We are no longer in crisis mode, and Luo’s departure says as much.
Appointing the former director of the Office for Safeguarding National Security to head the liaison office suggests that national security remains a priority. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has expressed hope that his government will enact Article 23 legislation this year, but Zheng will need to oversee more than just national security.
Sure, Zheng is a hardliner, but notice that the tough guy, on his first day in the new role, had already turned on the charm, sending the message that he is approachable. Add to that the fact that he is fluent in Cantonese, and we know a new phase has begun for rebuilding trust between Hong Kong and Beijing.
“I will work hard to be a man who understands Hong Kong, loves Hong Kong and strives for the best for Hong Kong,” Zheng said while addressing the press for the first time in his new role. “In Hong Kong, I will speak more of Beijing’s words. In Beijing, I will speak more of Hong Kong’s words.”
During the early years following the handover, Beijing’s top envoy to Hong Kong took a very low-key approach, staying out of the limelight lest it gave the impression of being too involved in the city’s business. The directors were very deliberate in appearing “hands-off” in the city’s affairs.
The office evolved through the years. Zhang was provocative and never shy when it came to speaking his mind over sensitive and political issues, for example, asserting that the chief executive enjoys a special legal status that “transcends” the executive, legislature and judiciary, and that there is no separation of powers in Hong Kong.
Zhang Xiaoming, then liaison office director, at the office’s spring reception on January 19, 2017. Photo: SCMP
Luo was the clean-up crew – not here to impress or connect.
Zheng now presents this city with a chance to build a much needed rapport with Beijing. Some have pointed out that Zheng is the first liaison office director to be neither an alternate nor full member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, speculating whether the office or the city had been “downgraded” politically and in influence nationally.
If this is what it takes for the office to be an effective bridge and properly “liaise” between national leaders and Hongkongers, so be it. To be visible and approachable is more important than to have political clout. And this is the kind of new beginning we should welcome.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA