Recently the obscure Chinese language weekly magazine, iSun Affairs, ran an exclusive on Chief Executive (CE) CY Leung's relationship with one erstwhile supporter of his, causing a stir in the polarized political discourse. Unfortunately, this scoop, based on baseless allegations, has made some ludicrous and impartial accusations against Leung.

According to iSun Affairs, during a dinner last May, someone suggested that Leung should develop a good rapport with opposition politicians. In response to this suggestion, Leung allegedly argued that "...our relationships with the opposition are confrontational between ourselves and the enemies." In the magazine, Leung's reply is eventually misrepresented as the antithesis to Deng Xiaoping's theory and concept of "One Country, Two Systems." Worse still, on the basis of the scoop by iSun Affairs, South China Morning Post on Friday also run a report headlined "Leung see the pan-democrats as the enemy".

Does CY Leung really see the opposition politicians as the enemy? This contention seems to have been untenable to me. First, the chairman of Tung Tai Group, Vincent lee, who was at the dinner, said that he had not heard Leung's comment portraying opposition lawmakers as enemies.

More importantly, actions speak louder than words. In reality, CY Leung is very broadminded and inclusive in recruiting political talents of different political persuasions to serve the public. A case in point is Christine Loh. Before joining the Leung administration as a deputy secretary, she was part of the opposition camp, well-known for her scathing criticism of the HKSAR as well as the central government.

In the past, some of local establishment figures even tended to deem her as a bitter political foe. Given her reputation as a political maverick, the previous administrations dithered on appointing Loh to be part of the government. As the former Director-General of InvestHK Mike Rowse said several years ago, if one day our HKSAR government could be so open-minded as to appoint Loh as its secretary of environment, Hong Kong would have a bright future.

Surprisingly, dazzled by Loh's unrivalled experience in campaign for and research on environmental protection, CY Leung, unlike his predecessors, has shown his true grit to appoint Loh as the Undersecretary for the Environment.

Another revealing example was Anthony Cheung, who used to be a vice-chairman of the Democratic Party. Impressed by his exceptional knowledge of housing policy, Leung has rightly appointed such an opposition party member as Cheung to be the Secretary for Transport and Housing without hesitation.

Likewise, CY Leung is now still relying on the core member of the Democratic Party, Law Chi-kwong, who, as a member of Social Welfare Advisory Committee, has been giving very insightful advice to the government. More interestingly, according to the reports by a well-established newspaper, Leung even once paid a visit to the headquarter of the anti-Beijing magazine, Next Magazine, during his CE election. His visit has demonstrated that Leung even cherished the voice of the anti-establishment mass media.

So, it is not too far-fetched to suggest that our CE, in contrast to the report by iSun Affiars, has shown remarkable willingness to work with talents of different political persuasions in the best interest of Hong Kong.

Another unfounded and misleading allegation presented by iSun Affairs is that CY Leung has been involved with under-the-table deal with his supporters. Leung allegedly promised his backers some prestigious official positions such as the membership of the Executive Council or of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Standing Committee in exchange for their support during his CE election.

However, up to now, the magazine has failed to provide any hard and compelling evidence to sustain this absurd allegation. As the former president of the Legislative Council, Rita Fan, has pointed out that CY Leung is a discreet person, scarcely making any political promise to anyone in private. We should also bear in mind that, by law, the power to appoint the members of the CPPCC Standing Committee lies in the central authorities, not the HKSAR CE.

Therefore, to believe that our CE has an unrivalled clout to recommend anyone to the CPPCC Standing Committee is naive and simple-minded. Sadly, it was the exclusive run by iSun Affairs, which has conveyed such a misguided perception to our readers.

The author is a lecturer at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a former Scouloudi Fellow at London University.

(HK Edition 01/26/2013 page3)