Wang Zhimin, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, entertained pro-establishment lawmakers with a feat at the Chinese restaurant on the 50th floor of the China Resources Building yesterday evening. Representatives of all pro-establishment political parties and organisations were present at the three-table banquet. During the feast, the host and guests talked with each other, speaking their minds freely. The atmosphere was friendly and delightful.
This is the first time since he took his office in Hong Kong that Director Wang Zhimin feasted pro-establishment lawmakers. So it was not just entertaining a feast for the sake of "entertaining". According to resources who attended the banquet, Director Wang, in his talks, mainly reiterated the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and especially expounded the part concerning "one country two systems" and the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macao.
In fact, the work to explain and publicise the 19th CPC National Congress will be further advanced in all aspects. Li Fei, Chairman of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee under the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), will come down to chair a forum in Hong Kong on Thursday, which will be live broadcasted to various social sectors including primary and secondary schools. Prior to this, it was surely necessary for Wang Zhimin to entertain pro-establishment lawmakers with a feast and brief them. In the patriotic and Hong Kong-loving camp in the SAR, pro-establishment lawmakers are "the priority of priorities". They on the one hand have the responsibility to help the SAR Government govern in accordance with the law, and on the other hand are duty bound to exercise their powers and fulfill their duties as lawmakers in the Legislative Council (Legco) including to revise the Rules of Procedure right now so as to curb filibustering. Their responsibilities and duties are important and heavy. Regarding Director Wang's entertainment of them, the opposition certainly will make a fuss saying it is "intervention". Such fallacy should be completely ignored. It is justified and in the right for the Central Government's liaison institution to explain and publicise the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, not to mention that it is its obligation to widely liaise with various sectors including pro-establishment lawmakers. In this regard, no concession must be made but instead the work in this line should be further advanced.
It is learned that at the banquet yesterday evening, Director Wang Zhimin explained and expounded in detail the content in the (President Xi Jinping's) Report to the 19the CPC National Congress about "one country two systems" and Hong Kong and Macao. He has driven two points home to the attendees: one is that the Central Government will further implement its overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong, and the other is that Hong Kong SAR's status will be elevated in the country's governance and in its participation and role in the country's reconstruction. So Hong Kong must firmly grasp this opportunity.
These two points which deeply impressed the attendees could be said to supplement each other and merge into a single whole. In the Hong Kong SAR, which just celebrated its 20th birthday, both political and economic developments now reach the stage of building on the past and preparing for the future, and not moving forward means falling behind. By moving forward, "one country two systems" will progress and Hong Kong will have a bright future. By falling behind, "one country two systems" will pale into insignificance, and so will Hong Kong's future. The demarcation or "critical point" lies in that, politically, the Central Government's jurisdiction over Hong Kong must be further established, and a "bottom line" be further clarified so as not to tolerate any move to trample underfoot national territorial sovereignty, security and development interests; and economically, major opportunities such as those provided by the Belt and Road initiative and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area must be firmly grasped so as to get on the high-speed train of the nation's great economic development.
Of the two, the former is the crux. The "source of troubles" in the Hong Kong SAR lies in the opposition's resistance against the Central Government. They refuse to recognise the Central Government’s overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong. The "co-location arrangement" is being demonized, and local legislation on the Law of National Anthem is being smeared as "a fierce flood and a savage beast", as if there were something to do with the Central Government then Hong Kong SAR would be finished. The way to tackle such erroneous ideas, words and deeds is not to avoid them, but on the contrary, the SAR can completely manage affairs falling into the domain of autonomy as stipulated in the Basic Law, but what belongs to the Central Government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong must not be slightly weakened. Only in this way can the authority of the Central Government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong be further established, can genuine harmony and stability in the SAR eventually materialise. Upcoming activities to explain and publicise the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress will be a breakthrough and success. 14 November 2017
