(Photo :Zhang Xiaoming, head of the Beijing liaison office, met with Hong Kong’s Legislative Council) 

Zhang Xiaoming, head of the Beijing liaison office, met with Hong Kong's Legislative Council for lunch, marking the first such meeting since 1997.

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The lunch included unprecedented talks between Mr. Zhang and the local legislators. Two weeks before the meeting, the July 1 protest march was held. On July 1, hundreds and thousands of Hong Kong locals endured heavy rain in order to march for the right of being able to elect the chief executive. Mr. Zhang was invited by the legislative council to improve dialogue between the two sides.

During the meeting, some pro-democracy lawmakers walked out after raising concerns about the pace of democratic reform. One of the outspoken lawmakers, Leung Kwok-hung, wore a t-shirt that demanded the release of Nobel Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo.

In a speech, Mr. Zhang expressed that China was sincere in giving universal suffrage to Hong Kong. Beijing promised to hold democratic elections in 2017 for the chief executive. Many suspect however that Beijing will try to weaken the influence of democracy by that time.

Mr. Zhang also said the elections should be held in accordance to Hong Kong's Basic Law, emphasizing that it stated Hong Kong was a highly autonomous region, not a country.

Mr. Zhang also criticized the disobedience movement to promote universal suffrage, Occupy Central, saying, "No matter what beautiful words are used to package, illegal is illegal."

Formal meetings between the mainland and Hong Kong have been rare, especially after the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 and many pro-democracy legislators were banned from the mainland in the past.

Chairwoman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, Emily Lau, marked this meeting a very historic event because there had never been mainland officials paying an official visit to the Legislative Council.

Governed under the "one country, two systems" principle, China has agreed to grant Hong Kong high autonomy while maintain its economy and social systems.