A closed-door banquet hosted by outgoing leader Carrie Lam that Xi was expected to attend on Thursday evening was cancelled due to virus concerns,theSing Tao newspaper reported. The Chinese leader will return to the former British colony on July 1 to swear in her successor as Hong Kong chief executive,John Lee,a former police official and security minister.
The trip marks Xi’s first outside mainland China in almost 900 days,after his COVID-zero policy restricted his travel to domestic engagements,and led Hong Kong to close its own borders. It’s the first time during the pandemic that Xi has set foot in a city openly operating with thousands of COVID cases – evidence of Xi’s determination to signal China’s firm control of the once freewheeling territory.
“Hong Kong has withstood severe tests again and again,overcoming challenges one by one,” Xi said. “After the wind and rain,Hong Kong has risen from the ashes.”
The event marks the halfway point of China’s 50-year promise to maintain Hong Kong’s liberal institutions and capitalist markets until at least 2047 under a framework called “one country,two systems”. The UK has accused China of violating their handover agreement,a claim backed up by the US,which has imposed sanctions on Lam,Lee and senior Chinese officials for their roles in cracking down on the local opposition.
“It means a lot symbolically that the president of China is coming to Hong Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary,” Tommy Wu,lead China economist at Oxford Economics. “It’s Hong Kong and China telling the rest of the world that Hong Kong is a major international,financial and business centre in Asia,with the backing of the Chinese Communist Party.”
When Xi last visited Hong Kong in 2017 he delivered a tough message,warning the city that challenges to China’s rule were “absolutely impermissible”. After his departure,thousands joined an annual pro-democracy march,with some attendees carrying banners calling for the downfall of the Communist Party.