Support for CY Leung means support for Beijing, says NPC official in 'rare comparison'
NPC vice-chairman says support for the chief executive should equal that for central government in precursor to March meetings
The vice-chairman of the national legislature said yesterday that support for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying should be tantamount to support for the central government, according to a Beijing-friendly heavyweight.
The "rare comparison" from Chen Changzhi was made during a closed-door meeting in Shenzhen and later quoted by Cheng Yiu-tong, honorary president of the Federation of Trade Unions and a local delegate to the National People's Congress.
Another local deputy, Ma Fung-kwok, confirmed that Chen had made the comparison and also urged local deputies to "pay more attention" to the young people in Hong Kong.
"He said that young people may have many ideas, so if there are things that they don't understand, we should guide and enlighten them," Ma said.
The Beijing official's comments came two days after Leung rolled out his policy address, in which he criticised students' magazine for putting forward "fallacies" such as self-determination for Hong Kong.
It was also seen as highlighting Beijing's concern about social stability in the city, as the University of Hong Kong revealed yesterday that the latest public sentiment index had dropped to 68.5 out of possible 200 - 12.3 points lower than last month, and fewer than three points away from the record low of 65.9 in the mid-July study.
