NG KANG-CHUNGkc.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 08 September, 2015, 12:00am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 08 September, 2015, 12:00am
Zhou Bo flanked by Regina Ip and Leung Chun-ying. Photo: Nora Tam
Two widely tipped potential contestants in the 2017 chief executive race have set up an umbrella society of business groups to tap openings offered by Beijing's "One Belt, One Road" strategy, a move observers see as their first step on the path to the top post.
The Maritime Silk Road Society, launched with much fanfare at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai yesterday, is co-chaired by New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and her fellow Executive Council member Bernard Chan.
The membership list is a who's who of political and business elites. Former National People's Congress vice-chairman Professor Xu Jialu is an adviser; Shun Tak Holdings managing director Pansy Ho Chiu-king and ex-chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen are honorary presidents.
Ip said the society was set up in support of the nation's economic strategy, "partly to leverage Hong Kong's unique position … in promoting intra-regional business, trade and cultural exchange, and partly to identify new developmental opportunities for Hong Kong".
City University analyst James Sung Lap-kung said: "It is almost an open secret Ip would like to contest the chief executive election. But her network in the pro-China business sector is weak. She may make use of Mr Chan's network to expand her web.
"Chan can also consolidate his own network with the society. Even if neither of them runs at the end of the day, it is very much politically correct to do something to support the initiative."
Ip wanted to run for chief executive in 2012 but dropped the plan because she had too few supporters on the 1,200-strong election committee.
Chan is a dark horse in the race. He has repeatedly said he does not plan to run but the speculation refuses to die down.
Zhou Bo, deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, officiated at the ceremony with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the foreign ministry's deputy commissioner in Hong Kong, Tong Xiaoling, and the director of the central government's liaison office, Zhang Xiaoming .
The "one belt, one road" plan was initiated by President Xi Jinping in 2013. It refers to the New Silk Road Economic Belt, linking China with Europe, and the Maritime Silk Road, connecting China to Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1856156/regina-ip-and-bernard-chan-contenders-2017-race-hong-kong
