Xi has ‘high degree of trust’ in HK leader
SHANGHAI: President Xi Jinping has expressed a “high degree of trust” in Hong Kong’s unpopular leader Carrie Lam as the two met after months of increasingly violent protests in the semi-autonomous city.
Xi’s show of support follows speculation that Beijing was preparing to remove Lam as city authorities struggle to contain pro-democracy demonstrations that have rocked the financial hub.
Their meeting here on Monday followed another weekend of violence in Hong Kong that was marked by a knife attack and the vandalising of an office of China’s official Xinhua news agency.
Xi said Lam has “done a lot of hard work” and strived to stabilise the situation in Hong Kong, according to a Xinhua readout of their meeting.
“Xi voiced the central government's high degree of trust in Lam and full acknowledgement of the work of her and her governance team,” the state news agency said.
“Ending violence and chaos and restoring order remain the most important task for Hong Kong at present,” Xi said.
Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based expert on Chinese politics, said Beijing was showing support for the city’s chief executive “for the time being”.
“It doesn’t mean that they like Carrie Lam, or it doesn’t mean that they think highly of her performance,” he said.
“It’s just that if they don’t seem to be supporting her, then it will be impossible for her to carry out her duty in Hong Kong,” Lam said, adding that Beijing wanted Hong Kong to enact national security legislation that would give police more power to punish protesters.
But Carrie Lam could still be sacked within one year or during Beijing’s annual legislative session in March, the expert said.