Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Hong Kong via a high-speed exercise ahead of celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese uk sovereignty.
The anniversary is celebrated on July 1 and this year’s activities will come with the swearing-in of the city’s new head, John Lee, as general manager.
It would be Xi’s first outdoor visit to mainland China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and his first in Hong Kong since 2017. It also comes after mass pro-democracy demonstrations and protests that ravaged the city in 2019.
“In the last period, Hong Kong has experienced more than one serious control and has triumphed over more than one threat and challenge,” Xi said after his arrival.
“After the storms, Hong Kong was reborn from the chimney and emerged with a physically powerful vitality. “
Al Jazeera’s Hong Kong Adrian Brown report said the city was “adorned with banners and flags with a very strong patriotic theme,” with the underlying message of well-being that “China is recovering once again. “
“It’s a very harsh symbolism,” he added.
Whether Xi would attend the next rite in user on Friday has been debated in Hong Kong media in recent weeks due to a recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases. China and Hong Kong have imposed some of the world’s strictest regulations against the disease, while mainland China continues to enforce a “vibrant covid zero” policy.
Thousands of participants who took part in Friday’s official activities were asked to quarantine in hotels in advance and will have to go through daily nucleic testing. Much of Hong Kong’s local and foreign media, on the other hand, will not be provided after they are denied accreditation. according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Ahead of Xi’s arrival, security was beefed up at West Kowloon Station, as well as near Hong Kong’s local government headquarters and the site of a flag-raising rite on Friday next to Victoria Harbour.
Lee, the former security secretary, will update outgoing executive director Carrie Lam, who served only one term despite a long career as a colonial and then post-transfer official.
He ran as the only candidate for the post of Executive Director in the May elections and was selected through a special committee of only 1500 electors.
As a precondition for the surrender of Hong Kong in 1997, the former British colony promised special rights and privileges until 2047 as part of the “one country, two systems” agreement between China and the United Kingdom.
The deal is widely believed to have been overturned by the national security law imposed by Beijing two years ago in response to months of pro-democracy protests. Millions of other people in Hong Kong participated in the protest movement, which eventually ended COVID-19. outbreak and the restrictions imposed to involve it.