One of the signs that the Liaison Office of the Central Government of China in Hong Kong will undergo a change is that the post of Secretary-General of the Liaison Office has been quietly replaced by Wang Songmiao, the former Director of the General Office of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Current affairs commentator Liu Ruishao believes that Wang Songmiao, who has a background in politics, law and media, is the “chief administrator” of the Liaison Office in the hope of better announcing policies to the people of Hong Kong, which can yield short-term political results but will not be solid in the long run.
In addition, as one of the three heads of the Central Government in Hong Kong, the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, there will also be personnel changes. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Xie Feng, who has served as the Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong for more than four years, will return to Beijing as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Zheng Zeguang, who has stepped down to take charge of policy planning, regional affairs in the US and Latin America, and translation work. However, the website of the Office of the Commissioner in Hong Kong has not yet been updated, and Xie Feng, 56, is still listed as the Commissioner, while the authorities have not yet announced the new Commissioner.
China’s Hong Kong and Macao system went through a major shift last year, with the directors of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LOCPG) both having no previous experience in Hong Kong, thus allowing them to implement the central government’s policies more unburdened. This is a rare occurrence in the past.
And yesterday (18), some pro-establishment media reported that the website of the Liaison Office shows that the post of the Secretary-General of the Liaison Office has been replaced by Wang Songmiao, to replace Wen Hongwu, who has another task. This is another top-level reshuffle in the Hong Kong and Macau system after Shi Kehui, former member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, who is regarded as “Xi’s army”, became head of the Discipline Inspection Unit of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council in January. As for Wen Hongwu, who stepped down as secretary-general of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, it is understood that he will lead the preparation of a cross-media “cultural central enterprise” in Hong Kong.
Wang Songmiao, 52, a native of Yuexi, Anhui province, and a doctor of law from China University of Political Science and Law, has served as a cadre in the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, editor-in-chief of the Procuratorate Daily, director of the Bureau of Planning, Finance and Equipment of the High Prosecution, and director of the General Office and Information Office of the High Prosecution from 2016 to last year. In an interview at the Time, he said that the office kept in mind President Xi Jinping‘s teaching that “when you are in a military position, your chest is your marshal’s plan.
Current affairs commentator Liu Ruishao pointed out that the “two offices” are actually to implement the Beijing principle of firmly grasping the power of governance in Hong Kong, and Wang Songmiao has both the implementation of the instructions of the political and legal system and media experience, so he can better package and go through the procedures with the law, and play a good propaganda war. He explained that the Chinese Communist Party wants to use the “Hong Kong State Security Law” to control the governance of Hong Kong, but it may not be effective in Education and administrative affairs, so it needs people like Wang Songmiao to announce and interpret it.
However, he added, the CCP’s approach may convince some people for a short time, but if the “essence” is still the implementation of feudal or oppressive mode of governance, it will be difficult to be accepted by Hong Kong people who are deeply impressed by modern civilization’s ideas of democracy, freedom and human rights in the long run, and I believe its political achievements will not be solid.
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