Beijing Reveals Liaison Office's Flaws

Beijing found some issues with how the liaison office here is run

It looks like all is not well with the Liaison Office in Sai Ying Pun, known as the one that rules Hong Kong from Western district.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection revealed a number of issues following a recent inspection of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council.

Chief inspector Ning Yanling said the party's leadership in the office is not strong enough, nor is the implementation of the central leadership's decisions firm. Also, the choice and the use of personnel is not satisfactory, there is no timely reshuffling of grassroots personnel, there is loose and lax management of the party, and they took up more office space than allowed.

Zhang Xiaoming is the current director of the liaison office

The office should strengthen its leadership and "push forward new developments in the work on Hong Kong and Macau", and strictly adhere to political discipline," Ning said.

The commission also said the office should give "corruption risks" existing in the leadership and their subordinates high priority, and set up the monitoring and use of funds, he said.

At the same time the report acknowledged the office "had made certain achievements in implementing the party's basic requirement regarding the work on Hong Kong and Macau, and strengthening party discipline".

While no officials were singled out in the report, Wang Guangya, the director of the office, was quoted as saying the office accepted the feedback push forward new developments in its work, and implement the recommendations of the inspectors.

To add to the findings, Sing Pao, which has regularly covered the operations at the office, ran a front page story on this most recent report.

Wang Guangya acknowledged mistakes and vowed to reform

It cited an earlier commentary from the paper that suggested the office had been corrupt ever since the time of former director Liao Hui, who is a mentor of current office head Zhang Xiaoming. Liao is considered quite influential in political and business circles.

It seems the liaison office here is run as its own fiefdom and not necessarily following Beijing's orders. We're all curious to know what kind of corruption is happening in the office, money not properly spent.

Does this have to do with filling the coffers of pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong to help them in their campaigning and political activities?

And taking up more office space? What does that mean? Did someone spread out their stuff on other desks they weren't supposed to use?

It's all so intriguing.

The office is scrambling to fix errors of its ways and from now on we may see a change in how it deals with Hong Kong politics. More restraint? Picking its fights carefully?

We shall see...