CPPCC Standing Committee member Tang says mainland officials ‘have a thorn in their hearts’ over ‘selfish’ policies
KC.NG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Wednesday, 23 March, 2016, 10:11am
Henry Tang Ying-yen. Photo: Felix Wong
Beijing officials have complained that some of the pet policies of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying have been discriminatory towards mainlanders, according to one-time chief executive candidate Henry Tang Ying-yen.
Tang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said he had gotten the impression that some policies were seen as selfish and discriminatory while meeting senior officials during the annual session of the CPPCC held earlier this month in Beijing.
While he did not identify anybody by name, Tang said the restrictions imposed on milk powder exports, the ban on mainland parents giving birth in the city and the crackdown on parallel traders were sources of discontent among cadres.
Leung has touted the success of these policies in protecting the interests of Hong Kong people.
Tang, who lost his bid for chief executive in the 2012 race, made the comments in an online interview on Tuesday hosted by Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, who also contemplated running in the 2012 chief executive poll.
The government has no plan to lift the two-can limit on the amount of infant formula a person can take over the border. Photo: Felix Wong
The programme was the first of a series under the “Hong Kong Vision Project” run by the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, of which Tsang is a vice-chairman.
In the three-part, 45-minute interview, Tang said: “[Leung’s policies] give mainland people the impression they are not welcome. Officials have a thorn in their hearts and said we have hurt the feelings of our compatriots.
“In this respect, I am with them. We are one family. Even if there are some disputes over trade or tourists, we can always sit down and talk. We are like two brothers, there is no reason why we can’t talk it over.”
Tang said he believed it would take a long time to mend relations.
He told Tsang that Leung’s policies had eventually backfired and hurt Hong Kong’s retail and catering sectors, and that now there were calls to allow more mainland tourists into Hong Kong.
Tang also touched on the rising tide of pro-independence sentiment in Hong Kong as well as the 2017 chief executive election.
He said there was no need to be “overly worried” about discussions among young people concerning Hong Kong independence, describing it as “just some noise”.
He said most youngsters were rational and pragmatic. But he called on the government to set up more channels for people to voice their views and officials to hear them.
“Listening to the people’s views does not mean the government has to follow all the views ... But the government should explain why it cannot adopt these views. By doing so, the people will feel they are heard.”
On the 2017 chief executive election, he reiterated he had no plan to run, even poking a little fun at himself: “I don’t think the coming election will be as dramatic as the last one,” he said.
Tang had been seen as Beijing’s favourite for the top job in 2012, but the race took a dramatic twist when a series of scandals derailed his bid.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1929300/beijing-officials-upset-about-cy-leungs-policies
