Top China official pledges to ‘listen’ to Hong Kong

The three-day trip by Zhang Dejiang, who chairs China’s communist-controlled legislature, is the first by such a senior official in four years, and comes amid heightened security.

Hong Kong // One of China’s most powerful officials said he would listen to political demands from Hongkongers in a conciliatory start to a visit on Tuesday that has stirred anger in a city resentful of Beijing’s tightening grip.

The three-day trip by Zhang Dejiang, who chairs China’s communist-controlled legislature, is the first by such a senior official in four years.

It comes as concerns grow in semi-autonomous Hong Kong that its long-cherished freedoms are under threat.

While Mr Zhang is ostensibly visiting to speak at an economic conference on Wednesday, the trip is widely seen as a bid to take the temperature in an increasingly divided city with a fledgling independence movement.

It has infuriated opponents, critical of a massive security operation that includes barricading protesters into designated areas out of Mr Zhang’s sight.

Police shoved back protesters gathered near the residence of the city’s leader on Tuesday night where Mr Zhang was due to have dinner.

Seven members of a pro-democracy political party were arrested earlier in the day after putting up protest banners, with three still detained, and a leading pro-democracy activist was also wrestled to the ground by police outside Mr Zhang’s hotel.

Several protest groups were preparing to rally near the harbourfront convention centre where Mr Zhang was speaking.

Mr Zhang was met by city leader Leung Chun-ying and a brass band upon his arrival.

In a short speech on the tarmac Mr Zhang, a member of the politburo standing committee, pledged to listen to a variety of political views.

“[I will listen to] people from all walks of life about any suggestions and demands regarding the implementation of ‘one country two systems’,” said Mr Zhang, referring to the semi-autonomous system under which Hong Kong is governed since being handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

He also said he would listen to “any suggestions and requests regarding the nation and Hong Kong’s development”.

Mr Zhang declared he had brought a “caring heart” as well as “hearty greetings and good wishes” from China’s president Xi Jinping.

He will meet with four veteran pro-democracy lawmakers on Wednesday evening, a rare move observers say is designed to defuse frustrations over stalled political reform.

Layers of large, water-filled plastic barricades cordoned off roads in the area and paving stones have been glued down to prevent protesters using them as missiles.

Police are even patrolling Lion Rock – a hill on the other side of the harbour where pro-democracy protests banners have regularly been unfurled.

But activists from the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats still managed to hang a banner calling for universal suffrage on a nearby hillside Tuesday morning.

Another, demanding the “end of Communist Party dictatorship”, was hung on a highway from the airport into the city.

After its members were arrested over the banners, a Facebook post on the party’s website said it would not “back off”.

Mr Zhang’s visit is expected to help Beijing gauge whether city leader Mr Leung should stand for another term – his current stint ends in March 2017.

Like all Hong Kong leaders, Mr Leung was chosen by a 1,200-member committee stacked with Beijing loyalists.

Mass rallies in 2014 for fully free leadership elections failed to win political reform.

Since then, young campaigners have become increasingly frustrated with intransigence in Hong Kong and Beijing, with some suggesting they might use violence to force change.

Hong Kong has been semi-autonomous since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997, with freedoms unseen on the mainland.

* Agence-France Presse