China's President Xi Jinping gives a speech following a swearing-in ceremony to inaugurate the city's new leader and government in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022, on the 25th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. (Photo: AFP/Selim Chtayti)
Hong Kong's 'true democracy' started after handover: Chinese President Xi Jinping
www.channelnewsasia.com
01 Jul 2022 11:21AM (Updated: 01 Jul 2022 01:39PM)
HONG KONG: Chinese leader Xi Jinping said on Friday (Jul 1) that Hong Kong's "true democracy" started after the city's handover to China from colonial Britain 25 years ago.
"After reuniting with the motherland, Hong Kong's people became the masters of their own city," Xi said. "Hong Kong's true democracy started from here."
He said that China has acted "for the good of Hong Kong" and that the central government will help to maintain and support a free and open business environment for Hong Kong.
He said that there is no reason to change the One Country, Two Systems style of governance, and that it will continue.
The model is "such a good system, has no reason at all to change, and it must be upheld in the long run," Xi said.
Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule on Jul 1, 1997, with Beijing promising wide-ranging autonomy, unfettered individual rights and judicial independence at least until 2047.
China's critics accuse authorities of trampling on those freedoms, unavailable on the mainland, with a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing on the city in 2020 after mass protests the year before.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that China had failed to meet its handover commitments.
China and Hong Kong reject the accusations, saying the law "restored order from chaos" so that the city could prosper.
In his speech, Xi said: "After experiencing wind and rain, everyone can painfully feel that Hong Kong cannot be chaotic, and must not become chaotic again ... Hong Kong’s development cannot be delayed again, and any interference must be eliminated."
