State leader, who will be in city from May 17 to 19, expected to avoid thorny issues to focus on economic development
GARY.CHEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Thursday, 05 May, 2016, 11:24am
Zhang Dejiang will be the first state leader to visit Hong Kong since 2012. Photo: Xinhua
The state leader overseeing the city’s affairs is unlikely to have a separate meeting with pan-democratic lawmakers or touch on issues like Hong Kong independence during his three-day visit later this month, mainland sources said.
Zhang Dejiang, who chairs the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, will arrive in Hong Kong on May 17.
A mainland source familiar with the visit said Zhang would stay at the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai and would return to the mainland on May 19.
“Zhang is unlikely to touch on controversial issues like Hong Kong independence as the focus of his trip will be the city’s economic development,” the source said.
In a similar vein, a person close to the Hong Kong government said: “The state leader should be smart enough not to touch on thorny issues like Hong Kong independence, so as not to distract from the main theme of his trip.”
The person also warned against unnecessarily high expectations for the visit.
The mainland source said officials from central government departments, such as the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Commerce, arrived in Hong Kong a few days ago to prepare for the visit.
Zhang, who will be the first state leader to visit Hong Kong since 2012, will deliver a keynote speech at the Belt and Road Summit held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on May 18.
The summit is co-organised by the Hong Kong government, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Zhang will attend a dinner hosted by the Hong Kong government on May 18 evening and deliver a courtesy speech at the event,” the source said.
Business and community leaders, lawmakers and local delegates to the NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference will be invited to attend the dinner.
Zhang is also expected to meet Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying and principal officials.
But the state leader is unlikely to meet lawmakers, including the pan-democrats, in a separate meeting during his trip, the source said.
During his visit to Hong Kong in 2007, then-president Hu Jintao visited two families in Ma On Shan.
The source said mainland officials were assessing the security risks for Zhang’s visit.
“His itinerary has yet to be finalised, but it is unlikely he will visit families this time,” the person said.
Another mainland source said Zhang will not reveal the central government’s preference for the chief executive election scheduled for March next year.
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong government source said a Belt and Road Office would be set up inside the Central Policy Unit, the government’s think tank.
In his policy address announced in January, the chief executive said he would establish the office – with a steering committee chaired by Leung himself – and liaise with mainland ministries and social sectors to facilitate the country’s push to drive cooperation among Eurasian countries along the ancient Silk Road.
“The Central Policy Unit has been working on the belt and road initiative in the past year. It has the full support of the chief executive,” the government source said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1941435/zhang-dejiang-unlikely-touch-hong-kong-independence-during
