Saga Over Liaison Office Powers Is Now Settled: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that debate on the role of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong has now been settled with the government making its position clear, and people shouldn't let the controversy distract them from the antics of the pro-democracy camp in Legco.

Lam's comments come after the SAR government issued yet another statement late on Monday night seeking to clarify the confusion caused by a series of contradictory press releases published over the weekend concerning whether the liaison office has to abide by Article 22 of the Basic Law which prohibits interference in local affairs.

The latest statement reiterated that the liaison office is authorised by Beijing to handle issues relating to Hong Kong and it can exercise "supervisory power" on major matters.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday morning, Lam said: "I don't think it is very meaningful to talk about the process or the internal process leading to the issue of press releases, what is important is the crux of the matter," she said, referring to filibustering in Legco's House Committee which sparked the furore last week.

"I do confess the government's expression of the position on this particular issue has not been clear and consistent, but that is now all clarified," she said.

"It was clarified by me last Tuesday from various government perspectives, and it has now been clarified by the government statement, which said very clearly that it is erroneous to treat the liaison office of the Central People's Government as an office set up by one of the departments of the central government, because the liaison office is representing the Central People's Government to oversee matters of Hong Kong."

"But I have to stress that doesn't mean that the liaison office is interfering into Hong Kong's affairs, especially those affairs which fall within our high degree of autonomy, because that high degree of autonomy also comes from the central government and is well enshrined in the Basic Law," she added.

Lam also responded to reports that the liaison office has been exempted from paying HK$124 million in stamp duty over the past five years, saying that this is not a new issue and the fact that it has been brought up again "indicates that we do have people who want to arouse public controversy by digging out old issues and try to rehearse them again".

She said according to the Stamp Duty Ordinance, the central government, SAR government and statutory bodies in the name of the public offices are not required to pay stamp duty.

Pro-democracy group Demosisto had brought up the stamp duty matter on Monday when it also said it had found that the liaison office has been dramatically expanding its property portfolio in Hong Kong since the 2014 Occupy protests.

Demosisto said the liaison office has now bought up to 757 properties in the city worth some HK$3.4 billion, including residential units, entire buildings, offices, commercial units and carparks.