Zhang Xiaoming
张晓明
Zhang Xiaoming in July 2020
Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
In office
13 February 2020 – 28 June 2022
DirectorXia Baolong
Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
In office
23 September 2017 – 13 February 2020[1]
PremierLi Keqiang
LeaderZhang Dejiang → Han Zheng
Preceded byWang Guangya
Succeeded byXia Baolong
Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong
In office
18 December 2012 – 22 September 2017
PremierWen Jiabao
Li Keqiang
LeaderZhang Dejiang
Preceded byPeng Qinghua
Succeeded byWang Zhimin
Personal details
Born (1963-09-03) 3 September 1963
Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
Political partyChinese Communist Party
Alma materSouthwest University of Political Science & Law
Renmin University of China
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese張曉明
Simplified Chinese张晓明

Zhang Xiaoming (Chinese: 张晓明; born 3 September 1963) is a Chinese politician. He was the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong and then of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, before being demoted to deputy director of the latter due to the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

Early life

Zhang was born in Taizhou, Jiangsu in September 1963. He graduated from Southwest University of Political Science & Law and Renmin University of China in 1984, where he majored in law. He studied under Gao Mingxuan (高铭暄), who is a famous jurist in China. Zhang received an LLM from Renmin University of China in 1986.[2]

Party politician

In 1986, Zhang was assigned to Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office as a secretary for Liao Hui. On 18 December 2012, Zhang started serving as director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and spearheaded the CCP's efforts against the democratic movement in the former British colony. In a widely reported incident he stated to pro-democratic legislative council member Leung Yiu-chung that "the fact that you are allowed to stay alive already shows the country's inclusiveness".[3]

In September 2015, Zhang stirred controversy in Hong Kong after claiming that the Chief Executive of Hong Kong had a "special legal position which overrides administrative, legislative and judicial organs" and that separation of powers is "not suitable for Hong Kong".[4] Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying subsequently affirmed that his position is "transcendent" of the branches of the state.[4]

He continued as director of the Liaison Office till 2017, when he was promoted to director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. He was demoted, in February 2020, during the widespread anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic affecting Hong Kong, to a deputy directorship of that office.[1] Zhang is an alternate member of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[5]

In November 2020, following the expulsion of 4 pro-democracy lawmakers from the Legislative Council, Zhang said "Hong Kong’s administrators must be patriots... and people who are anti-China and cause trouble in Hong Kong must be kicked out. This is a political rule under 'one country, two systems', and has become a legal requirement now."[6]

Also in November 2020, Zhang called for judicial reforms in Hong Kong.[7] In January 2021, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma responded and said that the judiciary should not be reformed simply due to the pro-Beijing party being unhappy with the court's rulings.[7]

In March 2021, while on a trip to Hong Kong to survey opinions about planned changes to the electoral system to implement "patriots" ruling the government, Zhang claimed that he met with pan-democrats, without specifically naming any.[8]

US sanctions

In August 2020, Zhang and ten other officials were sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury under Executive Order 13936 by United States President Donald Trump for undermining Hong Kong's autonomy.[9][10][11]

On October 14, 2020, the United States Department of State released a report on 10 individuals who materially contributed to the failure of China to meet its obligations under the Sino–British Joint Declaration and Hong Kong's Basic Law. Zhang was on the list.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "China replaces head of its Hong Kong and Macau affairs office". Reuters. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "黃京平". ruc.edu.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  3. ↑ China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in democracy clash, James Pomfret, Reuters, 11 September 2014.
  4. 1 2 Cheng, Kris (21 September 2015). "Failure to de-colonise 'caused many problems' for Hong Kong, says former Beijing official". Hong Kong Free Press.
  5. ↑ "彭王任中委張曉明晉候補委員". Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Top Beijing official moves to set record straight over Hong Kong autonomy". South China Morning Post. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Give us details of reforms required, Hong Kong chief justice tells critics". South China Morning Post. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "We even listened to the pan-dems: Zhang Xiaoming - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "US sanctions Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, police chief and 9 other top officials for 'undermining autonomy'". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Macias, Amanda (7 August 2020). "U.S. sanctions Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam for carrying out Chinese 'policies of suppression'". CNBC. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Treasury Sanctions Individuals for Undermining Hong Kong's Autonomy". United States Department of the Treasury. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  12. ↑ U.S. Department of State. "Identification of Foreign Persons Involved in the Erosion of the Obligations of China Under the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law". Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
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