Mainland officials' 'secret consultations' raise transparency questions

A pro-democracy lawmaker has lashed out at what he calls a “secret consultation” held by mainland officials on Tuesday in which all attendants expressed support for the national security legislation, RTHK reports.
Twelve closed-door consultation sessions were held at the liaison office and the public were only told about them afterwards.
According to a statement later released on the liaison office’s website, a total of 120 people attended the sessions. They included politicians and representatives from the legal, business, financial, education, technology, cultural, religious, youth, and labour sectors.
China Central Television (CCTV) aired a report, showing footage of a session attended by a Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director, Zhang Xiaoming, liaison office head Luo Huining, and Zhong Yong, who is the deputy head of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
The CCTV report said all of those attending the sessions voiced support for the legislation and said they hoped it could come into effect as soon as possible.
Democratic Party lawmaker James To said such a “secret consultation” process goes against the principle of an open government, and accused mainland officials of handpicking "selected, pro-communist, so-called society leaders" for the sessions.
"They want to write the report of unanimous support as a conclusion, they don’t want to listen to the true voice of the people. It’s only through the publication of the full text that the true voice of people can come out," To said.
But DAB lawmaker and executive councillor Horace Cheung said he believes the central government is already trying to be as transparent as possible.
“They will try to give us as much information as they can. That’s why they gave a brief to us after the meeting,” Cheung said.
“Certainly, we would urge the liaison office to engage as many people as they can, and certainly the meetings in the liaison office are one of the ways for public engagement. I’m sure that they have listened to different opinions through different channels."