Zhang appointed HK, Macau Affairs Office chief

Zhang Xiaoming

The mainland’s State Council appointed on Friday Zhang Xiaoming as the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, replacing Wang Guangya.

The 54-year-old Zhang was formerly the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Departing from Hong Kong on Friday morning, the mainland’s China Daily reported that he urged Hong Kong residents to believe in both Hong Kong and in China, reiterating the stance taken by President Xi Jingping during his visit on the 20th anniversary of the handover.

His comments came just two days before Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, told reporters that Beijing was not seeking to tighten its political control over the HKSAR.

According to Hong Kong’s EJ Insight, Lam said that Beijing has never wavered from upholding its ‘One Country, Two Systems’ policy toward to semi-autonomous region.

Lam also said that the recent appointment of Zhang was not reflective of a crackdown from the Chinese capital, adding that she does not understand why the public has been so concerned about it.

Hong Kong has been a thorn in Beijing’s side in recent years, as mass protests led by vocal critics have taken to the streets. The situation escalated late last year after two lawmakers were barred from taking office when a legal interpretation from the mainland ruled their official oaths were invalid.

Zhang joined the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in the 1980s as a junior official. He was promoted to deputy director in 2004 and appointed director of the Liaison Office of Hong Kong in 2012.