Key HK, Taiwan topics to be discussed at March meetings

BEIJING - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Taiwan will be a focus for lawmakers and political advisors' meetings in Beijing next week.

Hong Kong-based lawmakers and advisors will discuss how HKSAR will pave the way for universal suffrage for its next chief executive election slated for 2017.

They will also discuss how the international financial hub will continue to advance political reform after the "Occupy Central" movement that lasted for more than two months last year. The movement disrupted the economy and affected the lives of locals.

The main appeal of the protesters was to oppose a framework set by the top legislature on the 2017 election of Hong Kong's chief executive by universal suffrage. Under the Basic Law, the top legislature decided that chief executive candidates must be nominated by a 1,200-member nomination committee.

They are also expected to discuss recent conflicts between a few Hong Kong residents and mainland visitors. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said this week that the HKSAR government is seeking to tighten the Individual Visit Scheme for mainland tourists. Leung made the remarks as the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong fell over the Spring Festival.

Observers said the central government should help Hong Kong residents strengthen their Chinese national identity.

The SAR is expected to benefit this year from a series of economic policies introduced by the mainland. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program opened last year. Under the scheme, Hong Kong-based investors are allowed to trade Shanghai-listed stocks under a daily quota of 13 billion yuan (about 2 billion U.S. dollars) and total ceiling of 300 billion. Shanghai traders may invest in Hong Kong-listed stocks under a daily quota of 10.5 billion yuan and a total ceiling of 250 billion yuan.

Free trade has also flourished between Hong Kong and the adjacent Guangdong Province. The city of Shenzhen has deepened reform in the pilot zone of Qianhai and the Guangdong Free Trade Zone (FTZ) will soon be established following the Shanghai FTZ.

Analysts said these are all good opportunities for Hong Kong's economic development and the SAR may also benefit from the central government's stronger policy support for the "Belt and Road" initiatives.

TAIWAN

Taiwan's political structure underwent great change last year when ruling Kuomintang Party chairman Ma Ying-jeou resigned after his party lost by historic proportions in the Nov 29 local government elections. The party won a paltry six out of the 22 city and municipality seats, resulting in a shake-up of administrative authority following the defeat.

Lawmakers and political advisors representing the island are expected to discuss how to respond to the changing political situation, adhere to the 1992 Consensus and oppose "Taiwan independence".

Lawmakers from eastern Fujian and Jiangsu provinces and political advisors are also expected to discuss cross-Strait trade, as many Taiwan enterprises have set up businesses in the coastal region.

The annual meetings of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, will convene in March to discuss the country's key strategies.