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New liaison office head to usher in new period in HK: expert

Global Times

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/4 18:30:24

The State Council, China's cabinet, appointed Luo Huining, former secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, as the new head of liaison office of the central government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which, according to analysts, signals the central government's determination of ushering in a new period for the city gripped by continuous protests.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong SAR government, extended her greetings to Luo Huining on the assumption of his new role.

Lam expressed confidence that under the leadership of Luo, the liaison office will continue to work jointly with the Hong Kong SAR government to fully implement the Basic Law and "one country, two systems" in the interest of Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

Luo, 65, who was appointed as the vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's Financial and Economic Committee on December 28, has previously served as a top leader in Northwest China's Qinghai Province and North China's Shanxi Province, according to his resume available in the public domain.

Appointing an official with no Hong Kong-related experience to the liaison office shows the central government's determination to lead Hong Kong to a new chapter and restore peace in the city gripped by protests, Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, told the Global Times.

"His past experiences show Luo is politically mature and has a tacit understanding with the central government," he said.

Luo served as the Party secretary in Shanxi from 2016 to 2019. During his tenure in the coal industrial region, he clamped down on a large scale corruption that was seriously weighing on the local governance. His anti-corruption crusade played an important role in helping the province enter a new era.

Luo is so far the only official with experience as a provincial Party secretary to be appointed to lead the liaison office, according to media reports. It was also the first reshuffle for the post since anti-government protests started in June 2019 in Hong Kong.