Tsinghua University law dean Wang Zhenmin is known for tough stance on city’s autonomy
GARY CHEUNG AND TONY CHEUNG
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 January, 2016, 7:01pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 January, 2016, 7:01pm
Professor Wang Zhenmin, the new legal affairs chief of the central government’s liaison office, was formerly a member of the Basic Law Committee. Photo: Sam Tsang
A mainland expert on Hong Kong’s Basic Law known for advocating a hard line on issues concerning the city’s autonomy has formally assumed office as the legal affairs chief of the central government’s liaison office.
A mainland official handling Hong Kong affairs told theSouth China Morning Post that Wang Zhenmin, 49, has taken over from Liu Xinkui, who has retired and will return to the mainland soon.
“No formal announcement will be made regarding the personnel change, and the public will get to know of Wang’s appointment when he shows up at public functions later,” the mainland official said.
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Civic Party barrister-lawmaker Dennis Kwok told thePost that he Liu and Wang attended the opening of the new legal year on Monday.
“Liu said they are in a transition period,” Kwok said.
He added that although Wang was described by the pan-democrats as a “very conservative person”, he was not too concerned as the liaison office’s legal affairs chief does not have much influence on the central government’s policy on Hong Kong.
Professor Wang, who is the dean of Tsinghua University’s school of law, was formerly a member of the Basic Law Committee, a group of legal experts trusted with advising Beijing on the implementation of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
It remains to be seen whether he will be an outspoken legal chief, or if he will stick to Liu’s low-profile approach.
VETERAN CHINA WATCHER JOHNNY LAU YUI-SIU
Wang studied at the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of law in the mid-1990s. In April last year, he told a seminar in the city that Hong Kong had a duty to safeguard national security and that introducing legislation to enact Article 23 of the mini-constitution was a “bottom line”.
In April 2013, Wang said business interests must be protected in any reform of Hong Kong’s political system. He said businesspeople should not be drowned out by the crowd when “one man, one vote” was introduced, as their role in keeping the city prosperous was vital.
Those comments were part of his explanation of why Beijing insisted any candidates in future elections by universal suffrage for Hong Kong’s chief executive should first be chosen by a nominating committee. Four months later the central government laid down its restrictive framework for reforms to the 2017 polls.
Veteran China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu said that based on Wang’s outspoken style, “it remains to be seen whether he will be an outspoken legal chief, or if he will stick to Liu’s low-profile approach.”
Lau also believes that Wang is a possible candidate to head the liaison office in the future, but this would depend on whether he can get himself more familiar with the issues in Hong Kong, and with the work of the office as well as the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1900520/hardline-basic-law-expert-takes-over-legal-affairs-chief
