Hong Kong Legislative Council President Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, who led a delegation of more than 50 legislators, visited Shanghai over the weekend and held talks with central government officials including Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Director Wang Guangya. The itinerary of the visit was rich and varied, during which lawmakers from the pan-democratic camp by themselves had a two-hour dialogue with Wang.

However, complication was added to the trip when "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, chairman of the League of Social Democrats, opted out after customs officers at Shanghai airport asked him to surrender materials he was carrying that are banned on the mainland. Some other pan-democrats followed suit, aborting their trips.

It's widely seen that the event was an intentional show put on by Leung and other radical opposition legislators.    

The willingness of the central government to communicate with the pan-democratic camp has been well embodied in the arrangements of the trip. But on the contrary, the opposition paid more heed to the effects that their participation in the trip had on public opinion than frank communication with the central government. For those radical pan-democrats, their political image in Hong Kong doesn't allow them to kick off a smooth Shanghai visit. Displaying the will to communicate is unacceptable given their political stance. They have no other options but to stick to firm confrontation.

The Shanghai fuss demonstrates that some basic political views held by the Hong Kong opposition are not consistent with the reality of "one country, two systems." They also overestimate themselves. There is still a long way to go for the opposition to form a balance of confrontation and compromise based on factual recognition of the national situation.

The opposition are expected to put on a more vehement show in the future, but the real impact they exert on Hong Kong politics will be inversely proportional to the degree of their extremism. Mainstream Hong Kong society is unlikely to be kidnapped by radical forces. The influence of the opposition will be limited. A handful of opposition legislators oppose everything about the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the central government for the sake of their own political interest and self-promotion. This is not in accordance with the interests of mainstream Hong Kong society.

The whole country is moving forward under the framework of "one country, two systems." It's natural that some are creating a disturbance in Hong Kong, but they are unable to topple the framework. The performance of the legislators from the pan-democratic camp at Shanghai airport was ridiculous.

The mainland hopes to see continuous democratic development of Hong Kong as well as stability and prosperity in the region. If the opposition wants to play a bigger role, they must contribute to Hong Kong's development in the right direction. Otherwise, they will trap themselves in a dead end.