Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday said that she would work closely with Beijing’s top official in the territory to get it back on “the right path” after more than six months of pro-democracy protests.
The appointment of a new head of the Chinese government’s most important office in Hong Kong was unexpectedly announced at the weekend in a sign of Beijing’s frustration with the latter’s handling of the crisis.
Hong Kong Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government Director Luo Huining (駱惠寧) reports to China’s State Council and is the main platform for Beijing to project its influence in the territory.
“I will work closely with director Luo in the coming future, committing to ‘one country, two systems’ and the Basic Law, for Hong Kong to ... return to the right path,” Lam said in her first news conference of the year, referring to the territory’s system of governance and mini-constitution.
Luo on Monday, in his first remarks since taking office, used the same language, saying that he hoped Hong Kong would return to the right path.
Beijing replaced former office director Wang Zhimin (王志民) after he faced criticism for failing to anticipate public opposition to a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Lam did not mention the protests in her opening remarks, which focused on the health risks related an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Authorities have identified 21 cases in Hong Kong, of which seven have been released from hospital.
Clashes between police and protesters intensified over the New Year holiday following a lull in violence early last month after an overwhelming win by the pro-democracy camp in council elections yielded no government concessions.
Anti-government protests in Hong Kong have evolved over the months into a broad pro-democracy campaign, with demands for universal suffrage and an independent inquiry into complaints of police brutality.
Many Hong Kongers are angered by what they see as Beijing’s ever-tightening grip on the territory, which was promised a high degree of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” framework when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing denies interference and blames the West for fomenting the unrest.
The protest movement was supported by 59 percent of Hong Kongers polled in a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, while 57 percent wanted Lam to resign.
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