Is Leung pro-business?

Suspicions he’s not and is really a “closet communist” continue to hound Hong Kong Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun-ying.

Leung is in Beijing to receive from Premier Wen Jiabao the instrument of appointment as the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

With Leung in Beijing are Secretary-General of the Chief Executive-elect's Office Alice Lau; Private Secretary Carlson Chan and Press Secretary Jean Ip.

Leung, former convener of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, was officially declared the winner of the election of the fourth-term Chief Executive on March 25.

Barely a week after being declared winner, Leung moved quickly to mend ties with businessmen who supported his chief rival during the elections. Leung noted that his attempt to reach out to those who did not support him in the election showed held no grudges against them.

The Chinese Manufacturers Association has denied reports the business sector has a poor working relationship with Leung.

Leung’s standing with businessmen was dented when billionaire Stanley Ho said he’d quit Hong Kong if Leung ever became Chief Executive because Leung “. . . hates the rich.”

Suspicions of Leung being a closet Communist Party member remain rife. Leung has promised that “. . . the freedoms enjoyed by the Hong Kong people will not change,” in an effort to counter these claims.

Other concerns are that Leung might become more autocratic, less transparent and more security obsessed, qualities Hong Kong residents associate with mainland China. He is perceived by some as a Beijing loyalist.

Leung, however, has consistently denied being a communist, claiming to be a “100 percent Hong Kong person.”