BEIJING (AFP, BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has strongly endorsed Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam, saying the city had transformed “from chaos to order” since a controversial security law was imposed last year, Hong Kong media reported.
China has overseen a sweeping crackdown in Hong Kong after huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago, introducing a national security law that criminalised much dissent and introduced political rules that vet the loyalty of anyone standing for office.
The first public vote under this new order was held on Sunday for the city’s legislature, with a historic low turnout recorded.
Despite only 30 per cent of the electorate casting ballots, Mrs Lam was backed by the central government on a three-day visit to Beijing this week.
Beijing “fully affirms” the Lam administration’s work, Mr Xi told the territory’s chief executive in opening comments at a meeting shown by broadcaster RTHK and other Hong Kong TV channels on Wednesday (Dec 22).
The situation was “changing for the better”, he said, adding that the weekend’s vote had been “held successfully” under Beijing’s changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system.
Praising the Hong Kong government for “resolutely implementing” the security law, he told Mrs Lam the Hong Kong government had taken “firm steps to push forward Hong Kong’s democratic development in accordance with the actual situation”, according to RTHK footage.
“The democratic right of our Hong Kong compatriots to be masters of their own home has been realised,” Mr Xi said, also commending the Lam administration’s efforts to restore public order and economic growth in the financial hub.
Mrs Lam downplayed the low election enthusiasm, telling reporters at an evening press conference on Wednesday in Beijing that “the Hong Kong government does not have a particular benchmark for voter turnout”.
“As there is no benchmark... there is no such thing as success or failure,” she said at the conference.
The elections were “in line with ‘patriots administering Hong Kong’” and “conducted in a way that is fair, transparent, clean, effective and humanistic”, she added.
Mrs Lam’s annual trip to brief China’s state leaders on social, political and economic issues in the city comes as speculation mounts over whether she will seek a second five-year term next year.
On Wednesday, she brushed off questions on whether she will run for another term, saying only that she would continue serving through June next year.
Her visit, which wraps up today, will be closely watched for signs that she has Beijing’s backing to run in the March 27 vote for Hong Kong’s next chief executive. No candidates have yet declared their intention to run.
Earlier in the day, Mrs Lam sat down with Premier Li Keqiang, who praised her government’s handling of Covid-19 and urged greater integration with China.
The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have yet to announce the highly anticipated start date for cross-border quarantine-free travel amid the global spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
“I will continue to work hard and hope to get the border to open soon,” Mrs Lam told reporters on Wednesday.
