TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (聶德權) will be stripped of his title, along with at least four other government ministers, over the confusion caused by recent press releases that suggest Beijing's liaison in the city is not restricted to the Basic Law.
According to Hong Kong media sources, Nip will be replaced by Immigration Director Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (曾國衞). Financial Services Secretary James Lau (劉怡翔), Innovation and Technology Secretary Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung (楊偉雄), Civil Service Secretary Joshua Law Chi-kong (羅智光), and Home Affairs Secretary Lau Kong-wah (劉江華) will also step down from their positions as part of the major cabinet shuffle.
The move was seen as a response to the public outrage sparked by China's top representative office in Hong Kong insisting that it was entitled to interfere with local affairs on Friday (April 17). The representative office emphasized that it was not subject to the special administrative region's constitutional restrictions that bar the Chinese government from getting involved in Hong Kong's affairs.
The China liaison office pointed out that "a high degree of autonomy" should not be treated as complete autonomy and that Beijing has "supervisory powers" over Hong Kong. The comments soon attracted a large wave of criticism, as many Hong Kong citizens pointed out that Article 22 of the Basic Law clearly states that "no department" of the Chinese central and local governments may interfere in any Hong Kong affairs.
In an effort to calm the Hong Kong public, Nip took to Facebook on Monday (April 20) to apologize for the misunderstanding and reassured that the Chinese office in Hong Kong was limited by the Basic Law. His post, however, has raised questions about its inconsistency with the Chinese representative office's previous remarks, reported CNA.
The Hong Kong pan-democrats stressed that the special region's citizens would no longer believe in the Chinese government, the Basic Law, or the "one country, two systems" proposal. They also demanded the Hong Kong government hold a special meeting on the issue as soon as possible.
Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen. (CNA photo)