Latest news with #HongKongLiaisonOffice
Asahi Shimbun
03-06-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Hong Kong leader says sudden removal of China's top official in the city was ‘normal'
Zheng Yanxiong, director of China's Hong Kong Liaison Office, speaks during the National Security Education Day opening ceremony in Hong Kong, China April 15, 2024. (REUTERS) HONG KONG--Hong Kong's leader said on Tuesday that China's recent removal of its top representative in the city, known for his hardline policies on national security, had been a 'normal' personnel change. In a surprise development, China announced late on Friday that Zheng Yanxiong, the director of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong - Beijing's main representative office in the city with powerful oversight over local affairs - had been 'removed' from his post. He was replaced by Zhou Ji, a senior official with the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on the State Council. Zheng, who played a key role in the crackdown on Hong Kong's democratic movement in recent years, was also stripped of his role as China's national security adviser on a committee overseeing national security in Hong Kong. No explanation by Beijing or Chinese state media was given for the change. According to a person with knowledge of the matter, Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison's proposed sale of its global port network to a consortium initially led by U.S. firm Blackrock had caught senior Chinese leaders 'by surprise' as they had not been informed beforehand and Zheng was partly blamed for that. The person, who has spoken with the liaison office, declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential. The Liaison Office gave no immediate response to faxed questions from Reuters. Zheng had served in the post since January 2023 and while the position has no fixed term, his tenure was shorter than predecessors including Luo Huining and Zhang Xiaoming. 'The change of the Liaison office director is I believe, as with all changes of officials, very normal,' Lee told reporters during a weekly briefing, without being drawn on reasons for the reshuffle. 'Director Zheng has spent around 5 years (in Hong Kong). Hong Kong was going through a transition period of chaos to order,' Lee said, referring to the months-long pro-democracy protests that erupted across Hong Kong in 2019 while adding that he looked forward to working with Zhou. CK Hutchison's ports deal has been criticized in Chinese state media as 'betraying' China's interests and bowing to U.S. political pressure. The conglomerate, controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, agreed in March to sell the majority of its $22.8 billion global ports business, including assets along the strategically significant Panama Canal, to the consortium. The consortium is now being led by another member - Terminal Investment Limited, which is majority-owned by Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family-run MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company. The deal is still being negotiated. Asked whether Zheng's removal reflected a pivot by Beijing towards economic development from national security, Lee said Hong Kong still needed to pursue both. 'Hong Kong faces a stage where development and safety must be addressed at the same time because any development must have a safe environment.' China promulgated a powerful national security law in 2020, arresting scores of opposition democrats and activists, shuttering liberal media outlets and civil society groups and punishing free speech with sedition - moves that have drawn international criticism.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
China warns Hong Kong's last major opposition party to disband, members say
By James Pomfret, Jessie Pang and Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - Five senior members of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, the city's biggest and last remaining major opposition party, say Chinese officials or middlemen have warned the parties to disband or face serious consequences, including possible arrests. The Democratic Party, which was founded in 1994 in the years before Hong Kong's historic return from British to Chinese rule, has over the past few decades been the flagship opposition party that has united the city's democratic forces to push Beijing on democratic reforms and to uphold the financial hub's freedoms. Amid a years-long national security crackdown by China after pro-democracy protests in 2019, the Democratic Party will hold an extraordinary general meeting on April 13 to seek members' views and possibly pave the way for the group's dissolution. The group's chairman, Lo Kin-hei, has not given a concrete reason for the likely disbandment, but five senior Democratic Party members told Reuters they had been told in meetings with Chinese officials or individuals linked to Beijing in recent months that the party should close. Fred Li, a veteran democratic party member and former lawmaker, said a Chinese official had told him this should be done before this December's legislative elections. "The meaning is that we should be gone by then," Li told Reuters. "The message was very direct." Li declined to identify the individual but said the tone was very different from frequent exchanges he has had with Chinese officials over many years. There were no immediate responses to requests for comment from the Hong Kong Liaison Office, China's main representative body in Hong Kong, or from the Hong Kong government. Four other senior Democratic Party members also said they had been warned in recent months by middlemen linked to Beijing, some of whom warned the party would face "serious consequences" if it didn't disband. Three declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. Yeung Sum, one of the founding members of the Democratic Party, said Beijing's move in 2021 to overhaul the city's electoral system to only allow "patriots" to run for public office had effectively marginalised the party by removing it from mainstream politics. The party now holds no seats in Hong Kong's legislature. "We just keep a voice of advocacy for the people of Hong Kong on social and political issues, but still we are under pressure," Yeung, who was also approached by a middleman, told Reuters. Two Asian and two Western diplomats say they are aware of the veiled threats to the Democratic Party. "For a long time it seemed like Beijing could live with the situation of having the party around as a figment of opposition," said one Western envoy. "It seems they are leaving nothing to chance. The message is it is time to close down once and for all," said the diplomat, who was not authorised to speak publicly. The envoys see the demise of the Democratic Party as further denting Hong Kong's international reputation amid U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. China's recent criticism of CK Hutchison's port sale to a U.S. consortium has also raised questions about the city's autonomy, they say. Founded in 1994 and led by barrister Martin Lee, the democratic Party has played a pivotal role in Hong Kong's transition from British to Chinese rule, shaping the financial hub's democratic development and civil society. Emily Lau, a former Democratic Party chairwoman, said she was saddened by the likely dissolution, as she had always believed in engagement rather than confrontation with Beijing, including a 2013 meeting with the deputy head of the Liaison Office, Li Gang. "What we want is to see a safe, just and ultimately free Hong Kong," she said. Lau declined to comment on whether she'd been approached about disbanding. If the democrats disband, it would mark the end of nearly 30 years of opposition party politics in Hong Kong. At least five democratic party members are currently in jail or held in custody under the national security law. China says the security laws have brought stability to Hong Kong and rejects claims by some countries such as the United States that it has been used as a tool of repression against the democrats. "Hong Kong's international reputation was built on its openness, its freedoms, and its respect for the rule of law," said David Alton, a life peer of Britain's House of Lords and patron of Hong Kong Watch, a rights advocacy group. "The disbanding of the Democratic Party is another sign that Hong Kong is now being subjected to the same censorship and repression already familiar in mainland China."
Reuters
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
China warns Hong Kong's last major opposition party to disband, members say
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - Five senior members of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, the city's biggest and last remaining major opposition party, say Chinese officials or middlemen have warned the parties to disband or face serious consequences, including possible arrests. The Democratic Party, which was founded in 1994 in the years before Hong Kong's historic return from British to Chinese rule, has over the past few decades been the flagship opposition party that has united the city's democratic forces to push Beijing on democratic reforms, opens new tab and to uphold the financial hub's freedoms. Amid a years-long national security crackdown by China after pro-democracy protests in 2019, the Democratic Party will hold an extraordinary general meeting on April 13 to seek members' views and possibly pave the way for the group's dissolution. The group's chairman, Lo Kin-hei, has not given a concrete reason for the likely disbandment, but five senior Democratic Party members told Reuters they had been told in meetings with Chinese officials or individuals linked to Beijing in recent months that the party should close. Fred Li, a veteran democratic party member and former lawmaker, said a Chinese official had told him this should be done before this December's legislative elections. "The meaning is that we should be gone by then," Li told Reuters. "The message was very direct." Li declined to identify the individual but said the tone was very different from frequent exchanges he has had with Chinese officials over many years. There were no immediate responses to requests for comment from the Hong Kong Liaison Office, China's main representative body in Hong Kong, or from the Hong Kong government. Four other senior Democratic Party members also said they had been warned in recent months by middlemen linked to Beijing, some of whom warned the party would face "serious consequences" if it didn't disband. Three declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. Yeung Sum, one of the founding members of the Democratic Party, said Beijing's move in 2021 to overhaul the city's electoral system to only allow "patriots" to run for public office had effectively marginalised the party by removing it from mainstream politics. The party now holds no seats in Hong Kong's legislature. "We just keep a voice of advocacy for the people of Hong Kong on social and political issues, but still we are under pressure," Yeung, who was also approached by a middleman, told Reuters. Two Asian and two Western diplomats say they are aware of the veiled threats to the Democratic Party. "For a long time it seemed like Beijing could live with the situation of having the party around as a figment of opposition," said one Western envoy. "It seems they are leaving nothing to chance. The message is it is time to close down once and for all," said the diplomat, who was not authorised to speak publicly. The envoys see the demise of the Democratic Party as further denting Hong Kong's international reputation amid U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. China's recent criticism of CK Hutchison's port sale to a U.S. consortium has also raised questions about the city's autonomy, they say. Founded in 1994 and led by barrister Martin Lee, the democratic Party has played a pivotal role in Hong Kong's transition from British to Chinese rule, shaping the financial hub's democratic development and civil society. Emily Lau, a former Democratic Party chairwoman, said she was saddened by the likely dissolution, as she had always believed in engagement rather than confrontation with Beijing, including a 2013 meeting with the deputy head of the Liaison Office, Li Gang. "What we want is to see a safe, just and ultimately free Hong Kong," she said. Lau declined to comment on whether she'd been approached about disbanding. If the democrats disband, it would mark the end of nearly 30 years of opposition party politics in Hong Kong. At least five democratic party members are currently in jail or held in custody under the national security law. China says the security laws have brought stability to Hong Kong and rejects claims by some countries such as the United States that it has been used as a tool of repression against the democrats. "Hong Kong's international reputation was built on its openness, its freedoms, and its respect for the rule of law," said David Alton, a life peer of Britain's House of Lords and patron of Hong Kong Watch, a rights advocacy group. "The disbanding of the Democratic Party is another sign that Hong Kong is now being subjected to the same censorship and repression already familiar in mainland China."
