HK leader caught in the middle

By Frank Ching

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who marked his first 100 days in office on Oct. 8, finds himself caught in the middle as conflicts between the former British colony and mainland China intensifies.

Leung has an impossible job. According to the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the chief executive is “accountable to the Central People’s Government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

Thus, by definition, he is torn between the interests of the people he is supposed to lead and those of the central government, which appointed him and can remove him.

The ship collision on Oct. 1 ― China’s National Day ― underlines the position in which he finds himself.

Just moments before the fireworks to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, he was told of the collision, which ultimately resulted in 39 deaths.

The chief executive rushed to the site of the accident and from there to a hospital, where some of the survivors had been taken. But at the hospital he found himself overshadowed by Li Gang, the deputy director of China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong, who was also there to offer condolences to the victims and to speak to the media, giving some TV viewers the impression that the Liaison Office was running Hong Kong.

The next day, Leung was asked at a press conference if Li Gang’s high-profile hospital visit constituted interference in Hong Kong’s affairs, Leung responded that the visit was Li’s own idea. He did not say if it constituted interference.

Certainly, Leung was in a difficult position. If the representative of the Chinese government says he wants to visit the hospital and offer condolences, who will have the courage to say no?

But in its desire to look good in the eyes of the Hong Kong public, the Chinese government has unfortunately undermined Leung, making him look ineffectual.

Hong Kong’s biggest problem at present, in fact, is the worsening relations between its people and the mainland.

Only that morning, Leung, in his National Day address, had asserted that increasing integration with the mainland could boost the Hong Kong economy and solve the city’s social problems.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post to mark the first 100 days, he warned that if mainlanders no longer felt welcome, Hong Kong would suffer a serious blow.

In recent months, the British colonial flag has been conspicuous at demonstrations and a former Chinese official said he was “heartbroken” when he saw the flag being carried by protesters.

“We have to be mindful of how the mainland looks at Hong Kong,” Leung warned. “The recent acts by certain people in Hong Kong, such as flying the old colonial flag or making allegations against mainlanders’ activities in Hong Kong, have not gone unnoticed by the mainland. We need to manage their sentiments as well.”

Leung entered office with a considerable baggage, being viewed by many in Hong Kong as Beijing’s man rather than their representative. Many suspect, despite his denials, that he is secretly a member of the Communist Party.

However, in a recent radio interview, he promised that in case of conflict between Hong Kong and the mainland, he would stand by the city.

He cited his decision to bar mainland women from having babies in Hong Kong and to ask the mainland not to allow additional numbers of visitors to flood into the city as examples of instances when he responded to the wishes of the local people.

Leung hopes to win a second term in 2017, at which point ― if Beijing keeps its promise ― the chief executive will be chosen through universal suffrage elections. That means that he will want to show the electorate that he has been governing with their interests at heart.

This will not be easy, especially since sections of the Hong Kong public are perennially suspicious of the mainland.

All of Leung administration’s policies, such as the current proposal to develop new towns in the northeastern New Territories, will be dissected to see if they serve a pro-mainland agenda.

And if Beijing continues to adopt high-handed measures ― such as issuing “instructions” to the Hong Kong government on how to handle the ship collision ― he may well suffer from the resultant negative reaction.

Leung will be walking a narrow line as he tries to serve two masters ― the Chinese government and the Hong Kong public. If Beijing wants to help him, it should stay in the background and let him do his job.

Frank Ching is a journalist and commentator based in Hong Kong. Email the writer at frank.ching@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @FrankChing1.