As Hong Kong enters its eighth month of anti-government protests, Beijing’s new top official in the territory yesterday said that he has full confidence in its long-term prosperity and stability — so long as it has the support of mainland China.
“The motherland has always been Hong Kong’s most powerful backing,” Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Luo Huining (駱惠寧) said in his first public remarks since becoming the head of the office over the weekend. “For Hong Kong, one country, two systems is the greatest advantage.”
“Over the last six months, Hong Kong’s situation has been worrying,” Luo said.
Photo: Bloomberg
He called the territory the “Pearl of the Orient,” and acknowledged Hong Kongers’ important contributions to China’s economic reform and opening up.
In a brief reference to the political violence he quoted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) New Year speech saying “without a harmonious and stable environment, how can there be a home where people can live and work happily?”
“I sincerely wish Hong Kong and Hong Kong compatriots well,” Luo said.
The 65-year-old Luo, the former Chinese Communist Party head of Shanxi Province, delivered his short statement to reporters in Mandarin, not Cantonese.
He gave little clue as to whether Beijing’s approach toward the territory would change and declined to take questions from reporters.
State broadcaster China Central Television on Saturday announced that Wang Zhimin (王志民), who had headed the office since September 2017, had been dismissed from his post.
No official reason has been given for the change.
Luo, a party stalwart known for faithfully executing Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, signals Beijing’s intention to restore law and order after months of political unrest.
He served as party secretary in Shanxi until November last year, and became deputy chairman of the financial and economic committee of the National People’s Congress last month.
“Luo seems to have had the experience to end chaos and restore stability in Shanxi,” Victoria Hui, associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, told Bloomberg. “Since the outbreak of anti-extradition protests, Beijing has been trying to rein in Hong Kong.”
“It’s not clear why a strongman like him was not picked earlier,” she said.
Speculation about Wang’s removal had been growing, particularly after pro-government candidates suffered a resounding defeat in Hong Kong district council elections in November last year that reportedly caught Beijing by surprise.
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