HKMAO (Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office)

jul20

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said Tuesday that it will never allow any illegal manipulation in the Legislative Council (LegCo) election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The spokesperson condemned the so-called "primaries" recently organized by the opposition camp in Hong Kong, saying that such acts have constituted illegal manipulation of the LegCo election and posed a blatant challenge to the HKSAR Basic Law and the national security law for the HKSAR. http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/0714/c90000-9710500.html

5/7 (a voz de pequim em HK)

The view of Basic Law Committee member Albert Chen Hung-yee, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, contradicted remarks by senior Beijing official Zhang Xiaoming on Wednesday. Zhang, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said spreading rumours – such as falsely claiming police killed several people during an operation at Prince Edward MTR station last year – would be deemed illegal under the new law and one could be arrested for provoking “hatred” among Hong Kong residents towards the central or local governments. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3091875/national-security-law-hongkongers-can-still-criticise

25/6

Zhang Xiaoming is currently a deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, within the new streamlined bureaucratic hierarchy introduced early this year. Senior officials close to Xi Jinping are now in charge of the central government’s Hong Kong affairs offices, both here and in Beijing.  But considering the most thoughtful and straightforward explanation to come from any Beijing official since the imminent passage of a national security law for Hong Kong was suddenly announced a month ago–the intentions are clear. https://hongkongfp.com/2020/06/25/national-security-law-a-second-handover-for-hong-kong/

jun20

Senior mainland Chinese officials met 120 representatives from a broad swathe of Hong Kong society – minus opposition figures and critics – on Tuesday to explain Beijing’s impending
national security law for the city and hear their views, just days before the controversial legislation was expected to take effect. The central government’s liaison office, which hosted the meetings, issued a statement saying those invited from more than 10 sectors and social groups had attended 12 sessions and given “honest views” and “unanimously expressed support” for the legislation as well as its speedy implementation. One attendee, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Post, quoted Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), as shedding more light on what kind of cases Beijing would exercise its jurisdiction over – an issue that is causing considerable concern in the city.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3090292/top-chinese-officials-hear-views-national-security-law?utm_medium=email&utm_source=mailchimp&utm_campaign=enlz-scmp_today&utm_content=20200624&MCUID=3d06933c40&MCCampaignID=1580b99e35&MCAccountID=3775521f5f542047246d9c827&tc=7

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency of the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for promoting cooperation and coordination of political, economic and cultural ties between Mainland China and the Chinese Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.^[1] The agency answers to the State Council of the People's Republic of China as well as the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs of the Communist Party of China.

Just days after a rare public statement from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) sparked a major debate over alleged Beijing interference in SAR affairs, the office has put out another three in a row, asserting the authority of the liaison office, backing the police over the arrests of pro-democracy figures, and blasting the pan-dems, RTHK reports.

One of the statements said the HKMAO firmly supports a police operation on Saturday to arrest 15 prominent pro-democracy figures over their participation in anti-government protests last year.

It accused foreign governments of trying to glorify the “illegal assemblies” and the subsequent “violent actions” that followed.

The statement, published on the HKMAO's website, said everyone should be equal in front of the law, and those who break the law must be pursued.

“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong. People in the opposition camp and some radicals accuse the central government of interfering in Hong Kong’s high autonomy, but ignore or even invite the interference by foreign forces in the enforcement action by the police and the Department of Justice. It’s a double standard,” the spokesman said.

Veteran democrat Martin Lee, barrister Margaret Ng and media tycoon Jimmy Lai were among those arrested on Saturday, with a court date set for the middle of May.

Another of the HKMAO statements addressed the ongoing row over what limits there are on the power of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the HKMAO said it is “inaccurate” to say the liaison office is bound by article 22 of the Basic Law, which states that mainland departments must not interfere in Hong Kong’s internal affairs. https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/146021/HK-and-Macau-Affairs-Office-asserts-authority-of-liaison-office

A row has broken out over what Hong Kong’s Basic Law says about the central government’s Liaison Office and Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and whether they can “supervise” affairs in Hong Kong. The argument hinges on whether the two offices are regarded as departments set up by Beijing in the city, as defined under Article 22 of the Basic Law. Article 22 guarantees that departments set up under its definition will not have the power to interfere in, or “supervise” Hong Kong’s affairs. The row kicked off on April 13, when the Liaison Office and HKMAO both released statements blaming pan-democrats’ delay tactics for stopping the Legislative Council from dealing with bills. https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/article/3080744/hong-kong-debates-whether-central-governments-liaison-office-and

13/2

Close ally of Xi named new HK Macau Office chief Pro-democracy lawmakers are worried that Beijing will continue to tighten its control in Hong Kong https://asiatimes.com/2020/02/close-ally-of-xi-named-new-hk-macau-office-chief/