The key representative of the Chinese government in Hong Kong mentioned on Saturday persons attempting to turn the city into a “pawn in geopolitics” were the “genuine enemies” and Beijing was the true defender of the city’s special status.
Luo Huining, director of China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office, told a forum that the financial hub, a former British colony handed over to China in 1997, remained one of the world’s most competitive economies, the South China Morning Post reported.
“Those attempting to turn Hong Kong into a pawn in geopolitics, a tool in curbing China, as nicely as a bridgehead for infiltrating the mainland, are destroying the foundation of one nation, two systems,” Luo said, referring to the formula agreed when Britain handed the city back aimed at preserving its freedoms and role as a financial hub.
“They are the genuine enemies of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” he said, without identifying any people or groups.
Luo said the ruling Communist Party was “the creator, leader, implementer and defender of one nation, two systems”.
Despite such assurances, quite a few Hong Kong residents have more than current years turn into worried about what they see as attempts by Beijing to curtail its freedoms.
China denies that.
The Liaison Office did not answer calls outdoors regular enterprise hours to confirm the contents of the speech and it did not right away respond to faxed queries.
Unease amongst quite a few Hong Kong residents grew in 2014 when pro-democracy protesters took to the streets to demand universal suffrage. Demonstrations snowballed once again in 2019, sparked by opposition to judicial reform that quite a few persons saw as a threat to their way of life.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national safety law on the city last June stifling the pro-democracy movement and raising new issues about the city’s prospects.
The law’s supporters say it has restored order and enhanced prospects for the city’s economy, which Luo mentioned was amongst the world’s most competitive regardless of fears it would deteriorate below Chinese rule.