HK chief ‘above legislature’
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s leader enjoys a special legal position that puts him above the legislature and j udiciary, China’s top official in the region said, raising some politicians’ concerns about Beijing’s expanding influence in the region.
Hong Kong’s leader, the chief executive, reports to the central Chinese government. Thousands of the region’s residents have held protests demanding full democracy, putting pressure on current leader Leung Chun-ying. Speaking on Saturday, Beijing’s chief liaison officer Zhang Xiaoming said political systems where branches of government could check the powers of others “is usually established in sovereign states” and that the chief executive’s authority was above all. “The dual responsibility of chief executive to the central government and Hong Kong has given him a special legal position which is above the executive, legislative and judicial institutions,” Mr Zhang told a forum to mark the anniversary of the Basic Law, the charter under which China governs the ex-British colony.
Mr Zhang’s comments angered several lawmakers, who said Beijing was effectively giving the chief xxecutive unchecked control. Legislative Council member Alan Leong told the South China Morning Post the chief executive was now “like an emperor” and Lee Cheuk-yan, Labour Party chairman, said the comments undermined the Basic Law.