Xi hails China’s rule at handover jubilee
Critics lament loss of democratic freedoms
HONG KONG: President Xi Jinping hailed China’s rule over Hong Kong yesterday as he led 25th-anniversary celebrations of the city’s handover from Britain, insisting that democracy was flourishing despite a yearslong political crackdown that has silenced dissent.
Mr Xi’s speech was the finale of a two-day victory lap aimed at celebrating the Chinese Communist Party’s control over the once outspoken business hub after authorities stamped out huge democracy protests.
Since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, opposition has been quashed and most leading pro-democracy figures have fled the country, been disqualified from office or jailed.
But Mr Xi said Beijing had always acted “for the good of Hong Kong”.
“After reuniting with the motherland, Hong Kong’s people became the masters of their own city,” he said. “Hong Kong’s true democracy started from here.”
The tightly choreographed trip is the Chinese leader’s first outside of the mainland since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and his first to Hong Kong since the massive protests overwhelmed the city in 2019.
Yesterday’s ceremony included the inauguration of the city’s new government, led by John Lee — a former security chief who oversaw the police response to those demonstrations.
“After all the storms, everyone has painfully learned that Hong Kong can’t fall into chaos and Hong Kong can’t afford chaos,” Mr Xi said. “It must get rid of all disturbances and focus on development.”
Yesterday marked the halfway point of the 50-year governance model agreed by Britain and China under which Hong Kong would keep autonomy and key freedoms, known as One Country, Two Systems. The anniversary used to be a prime example of those freedoms in action.
For years after the handover, hundreds of thousands of residents would take part in a march every July 1 to voice political and social grievances. But that rally, like all other mass gatherings and protests in Hong Kong, has been banned for more than two years.
Critics, including many western powers, say Beijing has effectively torn up the promise that Hong Kong would retain its way of life after the handover.
“We made a promise to the territory and its people and we intend to keep it, doing all we can to hold China to its commitments,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday.
The United States and Australia also issued statements timed for the anniversary criticising the erosion of freedoms.