Patriotism Must Be Core Legco Value: Wang Zhimin

The head of Beijing's liaison office, Wang Zhimin, said on Monday that it is the wish of the central government and the people of Hong Kong that the Legislative Council adopts patriotism as one of its core values.

Speaking at the legislature before a meal with around 50 lawmakers, including nine pan-democrats, Wang said Beijing hopes other values that will shape the council from now on are rational pragmatism and "togetherness".

He said SAR residents want to see a harmonious society with stable development, adding that a good example of councillors taking heed of public opinion was their visit at the weekend to the newly dubbed Greater Bay Area.

Before he went into the venue, several pro-democracy lawmakers who declined to attend the lunch, including Chu Hoi-dick, Ray Chan and Claudia Mo, greeted Wang with slogans opposing the future introduction of national security legislation and calling for an end to one-party rule on the mainland.

Inside, a couple of pan-dems presented Wang with petition letters. Neo Democrat Gary Fan tried to give the official a drawing he had made of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, with much smaller caricatures of Wang and Chief Executive Carrie Lam behind him.

Fan, who was escorted out of the dining room, accused current SAR and Beijing officials of breaking the promises Deng made about Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy.

Wang later said it was very disrespectful of Fan to draw Deng on a prop, and he refused to take it because he is not allowed to accept gifts.

He also told journalists that it is a false proposition to talk about ending one-party rule across the border. He said the People's Republic of China is a socialist state of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Wang said Hong Kong politicians should not try to change the mainland's socialist system, just as Beijing wouldn't want to upset the capitalist system in the SAR.

The convenor of the pro-democracy camp, Charles Mok, was among those at the lunch. He denied the suggestion that the pan-dems are starting to "cozy up" to Beijing, saying they are simply trying to make use of every opportunity to convey people's messages to the central government.

"I don't think we share too many laughs ... we want to make sure there is a normal relationship between our legislature and the central government," Mok said.

"Unfortunately, especially in the last administration, we saw that the administration and the liaison office were actually probably working together to disrupt that normal relationship. What we are trying to do now is set that course back to normal," he added.