Visit to Legco by liaison office director not strange, says Andrew Leung

It is not strange for the director of the Chinese liaison office to visit the Legislative Council, says the legislature’s president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, in reference to a recent Chinese commentary piece noting Hong Kong has to be a unique Chinese city. 

In a TV interview on Saturday, Leung described the office as a liaison representing the Central Government and pointed out that the Legco visit by the office’s director Zheng Yanxiong last week was not strange but an ordinary courtesy visit. 

Leung explained such visits were rare because certain legislators had been disrupting the Legco, which resulted in him making more preparations and arrangements. 

Leung also said Zheng supports lawmakers to monitor the government’s work and show their high quality. 

Unlike many bills that were unanimously passed by this term of Legco, the recent bill for the revamp of the district councils was passed through a recorded vote by all 88 lawmakers. 

When asked if the arrangement required lawmakers to indicate their political loyalty, Leung said it was the lawmakers’ choice to choose the recorded vote, and there were no orders or instructions as to how the lawmakers should proceed. 

Regarding a recent commentary piece by mainland blogger Jinghaihou which mentions the generalized use of the national security law, Leung quoted the speech by President Xi Jinping when he visited Hong Kong last year and said: “A good system needs not to change.” 

Leung said Hong Kong, as an international city, cannot be just one ordinary Chinese city and has to be a unique city in China that connects the world. 

Leung also said that Legco's earlier five-day trip to Fujian was fruitful and that Hong Kong should refer to Fujian’s town planning when developing the Northern Metropolis. 

He hoped the two regions could complement each other and cooperate in the future.