The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concluded a key meeting in Beijing yesterday with a promise to protect the “stability” of Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protests continued last night that prompted police to fire tear gas.
The Fourth Plenum of the CCP’s Central Committee is a closed-door meeting of high-ranking officials where China’s direction is discussed. This week’s meeting was the first since February last year.
The plenum came as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) battles a number of challenges, including in Hong Kong, a slowing economy and the trade dispute with the US.
Photo: AFP
In the communique, the government said that China was “facing a complicated situation of significantly increased risks and challenges domestically and abroad.”
The communique said that the plenum proposed “upholding and improving” the system of “one country, two systems,” without giving more specific details.
“The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ... must be governed in strict accordance with the constitution and the Basic Law, and the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macau should be safeguarded,” it read.
Promoting the “peaceful reunification of the motherland” was a key theme of the plenum, particularly with regards to Taiwan.
“We must firmly advance the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland ... deepen cross-strait integrated development, safeguard the well-being of Taiwan compatriots, and unite the large numbers of Taiwan compatriots to jointly oppose Taiwan independence and promote reunification,” it read.
The plenum also said that the CCP and Chinese “must more tightly unite around the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core.”
In Hong Kong yesterday, police fired tear gas to try to break up anti-government protests in the densely populated district of Mong Kok in Kowloon.
Elsewhere in the territory, protesters were decked in Halloween masks lampooning its pro-Beijing leaders in their latest act of defiance against a law banning face coverings.
Online forums used to organize the largely leaderless movement encouraged supporters to descend on one of the territory’s most popular party streets, while police have said they ramped up spot checks and searches.
Protesters wore masks depicting Batman’s nemesis the Joker and Guy Fawkes, while others blended Xi’s face with Winnie the Pooh — A.A. Milne’s “bear of little brain,” who is frequently used to lampoon the leader and is routinely censored on the mainland as a result.
“This is not a celebration or a party,” organizers of the protest wrote on a messaging group. “We are using Halloween to express our demands and dissatisfaction.”
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