'Plan B' is pure rumor

Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, told a visiting group of Hong Kong-based fishery and agriculture business people in Beijing on Wednesday that the central government has no plan to replace Chief Executive (CE) Leung Chun-ying, and called on Hong Kong residents across the social spectrum to continue supporting the SAR government headed by CE Leung.

Rumors that the central authorities have a "plan B" because Leung was not everyone's choice for CE have been circling in town since he took office. They eventually died down but have been resurrected lately after Executive Councillor Cheung Chun-yuen resigned from all public offices because his commodities exchange is under police investigation; and Cheung was the head of Leung's CE election campaign team. When someone like Cheung is in trouble the opposition camp naturally sees it as a God-given opportunity to drag Leung into the mess somehow. Apple Daily, the opposition mouthpiece and unrivaled rumor mill in Hong Kong, went so far as to say in several reports that "reliable sources in Beijing" told its reporters the central government had decided to replace Leung.

Normally rumors like this were shrugged off and forgotten, as they have been so many times before, but the situation is different this time. With the 2017 CE Election by universal suffrage according to the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee already assured, the opposition forces are desperately trying to block it by all means before the process begins. Apparently the central government decided that it is necessary to sweep the "plan B" fantasy away for good, with a formal denial from the man in charge of the Hong Kong affairs, no less.

The timely clarification of the central authorities' standing on this matter is absolutely crucial, and so is the inclination of people from all walks of life in Hong Kong. That is why Wang expressed the central government's hope for Hong Kong residents to maintain strong support for CE Leung's lawful administration.

This is an excerpted translation of Ta Kung Pao editorial published on May 30.

(HK Edition 05/31/2013 page9)