ANALYSTS SEE RARE XI DEFEAT AS BEIJING STANDS BY HONG KONG LEADER
BEIJING— Beijing reiterated its backing of Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam on Monday, after a massive demonstration demanding she resign over a controversial extradition bill.
“The central government will continue to firmly support the chief executive and efforts by the government of the Special Administrative Region to govern according to law,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said.
The Chinese foreign ministry spoke as analysts saw China’s powerful President Xi Jinping being dealt a rare setback with the suspension of unpopular legislation in Hong Kong following massive protests.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters, with organizers claiming the number to have reached two million, returned to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, calling for the resignation of Lam—even after she suspended a deeply unpopular bill that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland.
Xi is not used to such challenges, having consolidated his power and tightened his grip on civil society in the mainland since taking office in 2012.
But Hong Kongers defiantly demonstrated en masse in the past week against the bill that was seen as another sign of the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in the city, which should enjoy its own laws and certain liberties such as freedom of speech until 2047 under the terms of its handover from Britain to China in 1997.
“It’s a massive repudiation of the idea that Hong Kong will be effectively, over time, fully absorbed into mainland China,” said Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism China Newsletter.
“The party under Xi has become more worrisome, and that’s certainly a rejection of not just Xi but the party overall,” Bishop said.
Beijing has sought to distance itself from the unrest, saying the bill was the brainchild of the Hong Kong government and portraying the violent demonstrations last week as a “riot” backed by foreign forces.
Experts say Lam would not have pushed the legislation without guidance from her backers on the mainland, and on Monday, Beijing said it would “continue to firmly support” the beleaguered chief executive.