Beijing supports Hong Kong leader, wants protests handled
BEIJING — China’s government put the onus for dealing with increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong squarely on the city’s embattled leader, signaling Monday that it wants a political rather than a military solution to political unrest in the semiautonomous Chinese territory.
Beijing officials called for punishment of “radicals” involved in protests that have gripped Hong Kong in recent weeks. But they also acknowledged some causes of young people’s discontent, including the need for more economic opportunity and affordable housing.
“Hong Kong will surely overcome all difficulties and challenges on its way forward,” Yang Guang, a spokesman for Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said in an unprecedented news conference, adding that the central government “firmly supports” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
“The ship of ‘one country, two systems’ will surely sail far and steady, despite winds and storms,” Yang said, referring to the principle under which China agreed to give the former British colony a high degree of autonomy for 50 years following its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
But signs of China’s influence over Hong Kong abound. The Hong Kong and Chinese flags flew at half-staff above government offices Monday in mourning for Li Peng, the former Chinese premier known as “the Butcher of Beijing” for his role in the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
It was the first time that the office, which answers to China’s State Council, or Cabinet, has called a news conference.
After eight consecutive weekends of protests in Hong Kong, the decision by Chinese officials to face the media sparked speculation that Beijing might remove Lam, who has not addressed the news media for a week.
While the protests were building on Sunday, she was at a graduation ceremony for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army summer camp at a barracks in Hong Kong.
She did not face the media on Monday either, as officials in Beijing spoke about the situation in Hong Kong. Instead, she gave the opening remarks at a women’s empowerment forum, speaking about her government’s efforts to create a conducive environment for women in the workforce without mentioning the political turmoil in the territory.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government, replying to questions from The Post, said it would not respond to “speculative comments” about Lam’s leadership.
“The Government did in fact respond to the marches over the weekend and rejected the violence used by radical protesters,” the spokesman added.
Protests in Hong Kong, triggered by now-suspended plans to allow the territory to extradite suspects to the mainland for trial, have plunged the Asian financial hub into its worst political crisis in decades.
Along with Lam’s resignation, protesters have demanded an independent inquiry into police actions and violence by pro-Beijing gangs toward demonstrators, as well as the full withdrawal of the extradition bill.
The demonstrations have widened into a broader movement calling for greater democratic freedoms, amid concerns that Hong Kong’s liberties and rule of law are coming under growing pressure from Beijing.
In clashes over the weekend, police fired tear gas and projectiles at thousands of protesters in a densely packed neighborhood close to the downtown area.
Protesters responded with bricks, set fire to carts that they pushed close to police lines and shot at police with crossbows. Police arrested at least 49 people on Sunday, in addition to 11 who were arrested during a separate demonstration Saturday.
The Civil Human Rights Front, which organized some of the biggest marches in recent weeks, said it believes that the turbulence will continue unless protester demands, notably for an independent investigation into the current crisis and the full withdrawal of the extradition bill, are met. More protests are planned for this week, including one organized by Hong Kong civil servants.
On Monday, China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office denounced violence and reiterated its calls for Hong Kongers to adhere to the rule of law. “We must not sit idly by and let a small number of people trample on this important value,” Yang said.