USA TODAY International Edition
China’s Xi will make first official visit to Hong Kong
Protests curtailed during celebration of handover anniversary
Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first official visit to Hong Kong on Thursday to mark the 20th anniversary of the city’s handover from Britain to China, the state- run Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.
The visit likely will be met with massive protests by pro- democracy activists who have criticized the rising influence of Beijing on Hong Kong’s affairs.
Xi will stay until Saturday, when he will attend a ceremony celebrating the handover anniversary and inaugurate Hong Kong’s new chief executive, Carrie Lam, who was elected in March. Xi also will visit a garrison of China’s People’s Liberation Army stationed in Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post.
Security will be on high alert for Xi’s visit, with more than a third of the city’s 29,000- person police force deployed around the clock, according to the Post. It will be Hong Kong’s largest police operation since the handover.
Hong Kong security forces also have been undergoing anti- terrorism training drills and riot control exercises for several weeks leading up to the July 1 anniversary.
Political slogans and banners are expected to be tightly controlled during Xi’s visit. Images or slogans demanding universal suffrage or commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre would be removed from areas where Xi’s entourage could see them in order to avoid “embarrassment,” the local Chinese- language Ming Pao News reported.
Planned protests also are noticing a crackdown. A pro- democracy rally traditionally held on July 1 on soccer fields in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park was denied the right to use the venue this year. Instead, the space is being given to a pro- Beijing organization, according to rally organizers, the Civil Human Rights Front. The activists will be allowed to use an adjacent lawn, although their application for more protesters to gather at other locations has been denied.
After the rally, thousands plan to take to the streets for a march under the slogan “One Country, Two Systems, a lie of 20 years.”
When Britain handed Hong Kong to China in 1997 after more than a century of rule, China agreed to a policy of “one country, two systems.” The communist regime would regain sovereignty, but the bustling Asian financial hub would maintain its open economic and political systems.
However, activists have condemned China’s growing encroachment on Hong Kong’s liberties. Five booksellers selling politically sensitive books in Hong Kong disappeared in 2015 before resurfacing in custody in China. One bookseller, after his release, publicly confirmed he had been abducted by Chinese agents and said he was detained and psychologically tortured.
Protesters also have been calling for universal suffrage in electing Hong Kong’s government leader. The chief executive, the highest office in Hong Kong, is chosen by a 1,200- person committee, with candidates subject to Beijing’s approval. Lam, the newly elected chief executive, was favored by Beijing, and critics have called her a puppet of the mainland government.
Security will be on high alert, with more than a third of the city’s 29,000person police force deployed around the clock.