Chinese president vows to uphold ‘one country, two systems’ in HK
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Monday to uphold the “one country, two systems” principle in Hong Kong, after months of pro-democracy protests in the semi-autonomous city.
Speaking at a reception in Beijing the night before celebrations to mark the country’s 70th anniversary, Xi said the country would “continue to fully and faithfully implement the principles of one country, two systems” and a “high degree of autonomy”.
Hong Kong has been plagued by months of unrest over what protesters say are eroding freedoms in the financial hub, which was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.
“We are confident that with the full backing of the motherland and the concerted efforts of our fellow Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau who love the motherland... (Hong Kong) will prosper and progress alongside the mainland,” Xi said.
China is preparing for a highly-choreographed anniversary celebration on October 1.
Protesters in Hong Kong are hoping to upstage the event with another demonstration on Tuesday following a weekend of intense clashes with police.
“Unity is iron and steel. Unity is a source of strength,” Xi said in his speech.
He also referred to the selfruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing still sees as part of its territory awaiting reunification. WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that oil prices could spike to “unimaginably high numbers” if the world does not come together to deter Iran, but said he would prefer a political solution to a military one. Speaking to the CBS programme 60 Minutes, Mohammed bin Salman also denied that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives nearly a year ago, but said he bears “full responsibility” as the leader of his country.
While Khashoggi’s death sparked a global uproar and tarnished the crown prince’s reputation, the Trump administration’s tense standoff with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe, has more recently dominated US policy toward Riyadh, especially after the September 14 attacks on the heartland of the Saudi oil industry.
“If the world does not take a strong and firm action to deter Iran, we will see further escalations that will threaten world interests,” the crown prince said. “Oil supplies will be disrupted and oil prices will jump to unimaginably high numbers that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes.”
IRAN DEFENDS REBEL ATTACKS ON OIL SITES Iran said this month’s missileand-drone attack by Yemen’s rebels on major Saudi oil sites was an act of “legitimate defence” by the Iran-allied Houthis.
The September 14 assault was claimed by the Houthis, though the kingdom says it was “unquestionably sponsored by Iran”. Saudi Arabia has been at war with the Houthis since March 2015. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Monday called Saudi accusations “baseless”.
YEMEN’S HOUTHIS TO RELEASE 350 PRISONERS Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group said it will on Monday release 350 prisoners, including three Saudi Arabians, under the supervision of the United Nations as part of a peace initiative.
A prisoner swap between the Houthis and the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed government of Yemen was one of three pillars of a deal reached in December in Sweden.