My Take | Time for the CCP to come out of the shadows

The Chinese Communist Party understandably wanted to lay low in Hong Kong during a period of transition after the 1997 handover of sovereignty. But after more than two decades, it’s time to come out of the shadows.

Meanwhile, the People’s Liberation Army should consider accepting recruits from Hong Kong. As it would be purely voluntary, why shouldn’t young people in Hong Kong be given the option to serve their country?

If Beijing increasingly wants to make its views known to the Hong Kong public, it’s perfectly legitimate to let the party operate like any other local political party, with the ability to accept members, receive donations and campaign in elections.

It is, after all, the nation’s ruling party. The city’s historical circumstances that made it necessary for the party to operate clandestinely during colonial rule and to adopt a low profile after 1997 no longer apply.

It’s high time for Beijing to let the party register under Hong Kong’s Societies Ordinance.

This question came up in the legislature this week as pro-Beijing legislators rounded on the Hong Kong government.