Zhang will be the first state leader to visit the city since 2012
GARY CHEUNG, CHRISTY LEUNG AND JEFFIE LAM
UPDATED : Friday, 15 April, 2016, 8:14pm
Zhang Dejiang will visit Hong Kong next month. Photo: Xinhua
Zhang Dejiang is expected to meet people from various sectors during his visit to Hong Kong next month, but the state leader overseeing the city’s affairs is unlikely to say his preference for next year’s chief executive election, mainland officials have said.
The remarks came as a Hong Kong police source told the Post that all Emergency Unit vehicles were loaded with tear gas rounds to handle unforeseeable protests.
Wong Kwok-kin, a lawmaker from the Federation of Trade Unions, believed one of the aims of Zhang’s trip was to pacify the city’s business sector, which he said is at odds with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
Zhang will be the first state leader to come to Hong Kong since 2012, and will deliver a keynote speech at the Belt and Road Summit on May 18.
During previous visits by state leaders, representatives from various sectors, including pro-establishment lawmakers, local delegates to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference were invited to meet them.
During his visit to Hong Kong in 2007, then president Hu Jintao visited two families in Ma On Shan. But it was unclear if Zhang would make similar family visits during his trip.
Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing said her party would be willing to meet Zhang to tell him Hongkongers’ concerns and aspirations.
Agnes Chow Ting, deputy secretary-general of youth-led group Demosisto, said her party would consider staging protests against Zhang to call for self-determination.
Agnes Chow Ting expected Zhang to denounce self-determination calls. Photo: Felix Wong
Chow expected Zhang to deliver a strong political message targeting the rise of calls for self-determination or independence during his visit.
Kenny Wong Chun-kit, spokesman for Youngspiration, which advocates a referendum on self-determination for the city, said his group was unlikely to launch any protest as they “did not have any expectation from the [mainland] regime”.
A mainland official handling Hong Kong affairs said Zhang would not state the central government’s preference for the chief executive election scheduled for March next year.
“There is still some time to go before the election,” the official said.
Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, also said she did not see any relationship between Zhang’s visit and the chief executive race.
It is understood that the police had not yet come up with any actual plans on security arrangements for Zhang’s visit, but had loaded riot gear, including riot guns and tear gas rounds, onto Emergency Unit vehicles for every trip they make.
A police source stressed that the arrangement, which was introduced in the wake of the Mong Kok riot, was not specifically for Zhang’s visit.
“Clashes often break out unexpectedly and we cannot afford time going far away to collect gear,” the source said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1936245/zhang-dejiang-wont-express-preference-chief-executive
