Cheung Man-kwong was commenting on moderate views expressed by senior Beijing official Feng Wei, who forecast that young radicals would enter Legco in September
GARY CHEUNG, OWEN FUNG AND STUART LAU
UPDATED : Wednesday, 16 March, 2016, 12:00am
Former Democratic Party lawmaker Cheung Man-kwong (right) had warm words for Beijing official Feng Wei (left). Photos: Gary Cheung, Edward Wong
A former Democratic Party lawmaker who engaged in secret talks with a top Beijing official on electoral reform has called on the central government to set up a mechanism to discuss cross-border issues.
Cheung Man-kwong said he appreciated the pragmatic tone of Feng Wei, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post earlier this month.
“I believe his remarks indicate the central government is adopting a more conciliatory approach towards Hong Kong and it’s not just a tactic ahead of the Legislative Council elections in September,” Cheung said. “Beijing will strive to prevent a further split in Hong Kong society.”
Feng said in the interview he was fully prepared to accept the reality of several young radicals winning Legislative Council seats in the elections, but expected them to mature politically over time.
He added the central government was also analysing the reasons for the rise of radicalism and the tendency of protesters to resort to violent means to achieve their ends.
He also stressed that advocates of separatism and Hong Kong independence were a minority who did not represent the mainstream.
The central government needed to learn to express its thoughts in language Hong Kong people could comprehend and were acquainted with and in ways acceptable to them, Feng said.
Cheung was one of three Democratic Party representatives involved in compromise talks with the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong in 2010 over the 2012 Legco elections.
Ray Wong of Hong Kong Indigenous blamed Beijing for the rise of localism. Photo: Edward Wong
A last-ditch U-turn by Beijing led to an agreement based on the party’s idea of allowing 3.2 million voters who do not hold a vote in a functional constituency to elect five so-called super-seat lawmakers.
Cheung. who described Feng as an “honest man” who always spoke his mind, believed Feng’s views had been endorsed by more senior central government officials.
But the former lawmaker said Feng should translate his goodwill into concrete actions, such as setting up a mechanism to discuss cross-border issues in future.
“Central government officials, representatives of Hong Kong parties and local experts should be involved in talks on issues such as the controversy over a joint immigration checkpoint at the cross-border railway terminus in West Kowloon,” he said.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing, who met Feng in Hong Kong last August, hoped the Hong Kong government could adopt a less combative approach in dealing with people holding different views.
But Ray Wong Toi-yeung, a leader of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, said that Feng did not recognise that Beijing had the greatest responsibility for the rise of localism.
“If they didn’t interfere [with the governance of the city], Hong Kong people would not resist,” Wong said.
Executive councillor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun echoed Feng’s remarks.
“After the young people enter the establishment, they will realise the complexity of policymaking, which is a matter of compromise, and their thinking will mature,” she said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1925631/create-mechanism-discuss-cross-border-issues-says-former
