Xi defends vision of Hong Kong on 25th anniversary of return

Protesters have been cowed into silence by the Communist Party

China’s leader Xi Jinping marked the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return with a speech Friday that emphasized Beijing’s control over the former British colony under its vision of “one country, two systems” — countering criticism that the political and civic freedoms promised for the next quarter-century have been largely erased under Chinese rule.

Xi praised the city for overcoming “violent social unrest” — a reference to massive pro-democracy protests in 2019 that were followed by a Beijing-driven crackdown that has snuffed out dissent and shut down independent media, aligning Hong Kong more closely with stricter controls under China’s ruling Communist Party.

The shift shocked many in the city of 7.4 million people that Britain returned to China in 1997, after running it as a colony for more than a century. As part of the agreement, China agreed to allow Hong Kong to have its own government and legal system for 50 years.

In the ensuing years, Hong Kong activists pushed back against Chinese efforts to curtail freedoms and even made demands for fully democratic elections, drawing out hundreds of thousands of people for marches in the streets.

Under Xi, that pushback has been silenced. For years, the anniversary of the July 1 handover was marked by an official ceremony in the morning and a protest march in the afternoon. Now, protesters have been cowed into silence in what the Communist Party hails as restoring stability to the city.

Xi said that Beijing has “comprehensive jurisdiction” over Hong Kong, and that Hong Kong should respect Chinese leadership, even as Beijing allows regions like Hong Kong and neighbouring Macao to maintain their capitalist system and a degree of autonomy.

“After the return to the motherland, Hong Kong has overcome all kinds of challenges and moved forwards steadily,” Xi said. “Regardless of whether it was the international financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic or violent social unrest, nothing has stopped Hong Kong’s progress.”

His speech represented the culmination of what China scholar Jeff Wasserstrom has described as a push and pull between two competing visions of “one country, two systems.”

Many in Hong Kong “fought for a more robust understanding of the two systems, to have an idea that there’s a very different lifestyle there,” said Wasserstrom, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of “Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink.”

That view, at least for now, has lost out to the narrower one of the Communist Party, which is mainly interested in maintaining the economic advantages of Hong Kong’s capitalist system, he said.

Hong Kong resident Grace Chan saw little reason to celebrate on Friday.

“It’s been very difficult for Hong Kong people in recent years,” she said. “I just wanted to relax today and not to surround myself in a negative atmosphere for too long.”

Since the 2019 protests, authorities have used a sweeping national security law to arrest scores of activists, media figures and democracy supporters.

They introduced a more patriotic curriculum in schools and revamped election laws to keep opposition politicians who are deemed not patriotic enough out of the city’s legislature.

In its view, China’s Communist Party has restored stability to a city that was wracked with demonstrations seen as a direct challenge to its rule. For Western democracies, Xi has undermined the freedoms and way of life that had distinguished the city from mainland China and made it into a global finance and trade hub.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement that China’s policies toward Hong Kong, including the national security law, have “shaken the institutions, rules, and systems that had been the basis of international confidence in Hong Kong.”

Regardless of whether it was the international financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic or violent social unrest, nothing has stopped Hong Kong’s progress.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT