Hardliner With Past Suppression Records Appointed Director of Hong Kong Liaison Office

Zheng Yanxiong delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, on Apr. 15, 2021. (Anthony Wallace/AFP)

On. Jan. 14, China appointed Zheng Yanxiong, the former director of the National Security Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Hong Kong, to replace Luo Huining as the director of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong.

Zheng is the first head of the Liaison Office with a national security background, and the Liaison Office represents the central government in Hong Kong and implements Beijing’s orders locally.

China experts point out that the promotion of a hardliner like Zheng shows that the CCP will continue to tighten its control over Hong Kong. Some experts also believe this is in complete contrast to the CCP’s recent strategy of restoring the economy.

Record of Suppression

The CCP implemented the “Hong Kong National Security Law” in Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, and established the local National Security Office in July of the same year, with Zheng as the director. This agency has overriding powers in Hong Kong, and one of its main responsibilities is to “direct Hong Kong’s national security affairs.” In the past two years, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police has actively cracked down on dissidents. State security police have purged political dissidents through mass arrests and shut down media critical of the government.

In August 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on 11 Hong Kong and Mainland officials and former officials, and Zheng was one of them. These people are accused of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of speech and assembly of Hong Kong citizens.

According to public information, 59-year-old Zheng is from Chaonan District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province. His past official titles include all major positions in Shanwei city.

Zheng is well known for issuing orders to suppress locals with an iron fist during his tenure as Shanwei party secretary.

At the end of 2011, people in Wukan Village, Lufeng, Shanwei City staged a protest because their land had been sold in private deals by members of the village committee. However, the matter was eventually suppressed by the CCP officials, and nine villagers in Wukan Village who participated in the defense of their rights were given prison sentences ranging from two to 10 years.

Zheng, the then-party secretary of Shanwei City, criticized the villagers for disclosing the incident to foreign media, saying, “If the foreign media is trustworthy, female pigs can climb the tree,” a Chinese saying that pigs can fly.  This remark was praised by the CCP state-run media.

During his tenure as director of the National Security Office in Hong Kong, Zheng publicly emphasized that “Hong Kong belongs to China once it is returned,” claiming that “we must never indulge the return as just in name, and still think that the U.S. and the U.K. remain the bosses.”

Surprise Appointment

The Epoch Times’s political commentator Zhou Xiaohui believes that Zheng knows exactly why he was sent to Hong Kong. That is to let both local Hong Kong officials and Hong Kong people know they must follow the CCP’s instructions and stop engaging in the pursuit of “freedom and democracy.”

Carole J. Petersen, a law professor at the University of Hawaii, told the Wall Street Journal that Zheng’s appointment shows that China still prioritizes ensuring Hong Kong’s national security over addressing the city’s slowing economy.

The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Zheng’s promotion surprised even some staff members of the Liaison Office. They first thought that Chen Dong, deputy director of the Liaison Office with a background in economics, would become the new director. All previous leaders of the Liaison Office were people with backgrounds in the provincial government, foreign affairs, or Hong Kong policy bureau.

It is understood that in the past, the director of the Liaison Office was a full member or alternate member of the Central Committee of the CCP. But Zheng is neither a member of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP nor on the alternate members’ list.

On Jan. 15, Shi Shan, an expert on China affairs, told The Epoch Times that Zheng could only be a transitional figure. “The director of the Liaison Office should be a full member or alternate member of the Central Committee, but he (Zheng) is nothing at all. His rank is a bit too low.”

As for Luo Huining, who is 68 years old, has served in more senior posts, such as party secretary of the Qinghai, and Shanxi Provincial Party Committees. In June 2019, after the large-scale “anti-extradition” movement broke out in Hong Kong, Luo became the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Jan. 2020 and the deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in February of the same year. He was also the National Security Advisor of the National Security Council.

Commentary: Hardliners Should Not be Appointed to Engage in the Economy

Shi also believes, “The CCP should now find someone who can establish the relationship and compromise with all parties. Because the CCP wants to revitalize the economy in the future, and if it wants to do that as soon as possible, it must make full use of Hong Kong. I think that after the two plenary meetings of the CCP later this year, there will still be changes in Zheng’s status, plus certain other changes in the short term too.”

China hopes to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. For the time being, at least 21 provinces in China have set growth targets between 5 and 6.5 percent for 2023. Many provinces said they aimed to boost consumption, revitalize the private sector, and stimulate investment in manufacturing.

At the Central Economic Work Conference of the CCP held on Dec. 15-16, 2022, “stabilizing growth” became the highest priority, a change from the previous “stabilizing employment” as the number one, and it no longer mentioned the zero-COVID policy.

The CCP admits that China’s economy is under tremendous pressure, claims that it will devote all efforts to restoring and expanding consumption in 2023, and responds indirectly to comments from the general public about suppressing the private economy.