Opponents of one-party rule are Hong Kong's real enemies, Beijing says

BEIJING • People who call for the end of one-party dictatorship are the "real enemies of Hong Kong", Beijing's Liaison Office director Luo Huining told a forum in the city to mark the Chinese Communist Party's 100th anniversary.

Those who try to use Hong Kong as a geopolitical pawn, as a tool to contain China, are destroying the foundation of "one country, two systems" and are the real enemies of Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, Mr Luo said yesterday.

"Without a series of major decisions by the central government to set things right, it's hard to imagine how Hong Kong could have turned from chaos to governance," he said at the forum.

While the event was intended to commemorate the founding of the ruling party in Beijing, it also served to celebrate the government's blows against Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition.

China has handed down a dizzying series of measures to rein in dissent in the former British colony, jailing leading activists and requiring future political candidates to be "patriots" who respect the Communist Party.

Yesterday's event at the Wan Chai Convention & Exhibition Centre was hosted by China's expanding array of agencies overseeing the city. Attendees included Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her predecessor, Mr Leung Chun-ying.

China is holding events in advance of the party's centennial next month, an occasion that President Xi Jinping is using to highlight his own success in fortifying Beijing's control over the city, which was handed back to China in 1997.

Mr Xi's government moved to rewrite the rules of political engagement in Hong Kong in the aftermath of historic and sometimes violent protests in 2019.

The event yesterday coincided with fresh calls for protests to mark the second anniversary of a violent clash between demonstrators and police outside the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

The 2019 rally, which police dispersed with tear gas after protesters attempted to gain access to the compound, signalled a turning point towards more physical tactics by both sides.

Several activists have posted calls on social media for protests, urging people to gather in the shopping districts of Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.

Police were planning to deploy more than 2,000 officers around the city, the South China Morning Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

One activist group, Student Politicism, said its convenor, Mr Wong Yat-chin, had been arrested for the second Friday in a row.

He was detained by officers near his home on suspicion of "promoting an unauthorised assembly," RTHK said.

Separately, Hong Kong bankers and lawyers will be able to search the city's companies registry under proposed exemptions to plans to tighten public access to the database, Secretary for Financial Services Christopher Hui said.

Business and governance experts have criticised a government plan outlined this year to restrict access to the personal information of company directors, saying it will reduce transparency in the city's corporate sector.

Dealmakers working through the due diligence phase of corporate transactions regularly consult the database to research and verify the history and identities of executives and directors.

Mr Hui said on a RTHK Radio programme yesterday that lawyers, bankers and accountants could now apply to the company registry to gain access to documents for work purposes.

"But the premise is that they have to be really doing relevant checks and work, because we need to strike a balance and protect privacy," Mr Hui was quoted as saying on the RTHK website.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS