Hong Kong — Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, China’s top leader Xi Jinping has fallen into a virus-free bubble within his closed borders. On Thursday, he left the safe territory of the mainland for the first time, arrived in Hong Kong, and made a strictly scripted visit aimed at strengthening his authority over the city.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were greeted by a bouquet of flowers and small Chinese and Hong Kong flag-waving schoolchildren and supporters as they began their two days off the high-speed train at the closed West Kowloon station. The visiting lion dance was performed when a well-organized line of greetings said, “Warmly welcome, warmly welcome.”
Despite the recent rise in Covid infections in Hong Kong, Mr. Xi’s decision to visit Hong Kong underscores the importance of signaling his control over the former British colonies. This is Mr. Xi for the first time in Hong Kong since the opposition to democratization began a serious challenge to the domination of Beijing, which devastated the territory for several months in 2019. Since then, Mr. Xi has carried out a thorough crackdown on dissenting opinions, arresting thousands of people, including major opposition forces, lawmakers, scholars, newspaper editors, and retired Catholic bishops.
For many inhabitants, the crackdown has cooled the city and changed it beyond perception. In a short speech on arrival, Xi sought to give a positive opinion on the city’s “brighter future.”
“Hong Kong has endured tough challenges one after another and overcame dangers one after another,” he said. “After the storm, Hong Kong is reborn from ashes and is vibrant.”
Mr. Xi has not left China for 29 months. His absence is becoming more and more prominent, especially as diplomacy surges in response to the war in Ukraine and the subsequent political, military and economic collapse. He called the Group 20 meeting in December via a video link. He sent a written statement to the November Climate Conference in Glasgow. He has not yet met President Biden in person.
The inward turn raises Beijing’s concerns about protecting Mr. Nishi’s health ahead of the crucial Communist Congress later this year, which is expected to claim another five years as a Chinese leader. Mostly shown. But for Mr. Xi, taking a victorious lap in Hong Kong is important to assert his national rejuvenation vision of returning China to what the Communist Party considers to be a legitimate place as a global power.
“He hasn’t been away from mainland China since the beginning of 2020, but both in terms of his fame and popularity, he thinks it’s good for him to visit for just a few hours,” Willy Wallap. Ram said. An associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong mentioned local news reports that Mr. Xi would not stay overnight in Hong Kong and instead return to the bordering Chinese city of Shenzhen.
“Hong Kong has undergone dramatic changes over the last three years and he wants to reassure the public,” Lamb said.
To stop the virus during Mr. Xi’s visit, Hong Kong has built an elaborate closed-loop bubble. Thousands of government officials, dozens of foreign officials, and a group of carefully selected journalists were asked to undergo a weekly rapid antigen test daily and to be locked up in a hotel for quarantine this week. I did. A neighborhood office worker who was reportedly scheduled to visit Mr. Nishi was told to stay at home. At one school, dozens of students were sent to quarantine for several days to allow them to greet when Mr. Xi arrived.
The rigorous epidemic protocol that Hong Kong has imposed on Mr. Xi’s visit is in contrast to many places with similarly high vaccination rates that withdrew such restrictions a few months ago. However, China is the last country in the world to maintain a policy to eliminate Covid, fearing a surge in cases in Hong Kong, where more than 2,000 Covid cases were recorded on Wednesday for the first time since April. There is a high possibility that it is.
A meticulously choreographed visit with few publicly announced details and a high level of security suggests that Mr. Xi’s public interaction will be restricted, protesters will be alienated, and unwelcome surprises will be prevented. increase.
Mr. Nishi took the city’s next leader, former security director John Lee and his government oath on Friday, as all Chinese leaders have done since the city’s official delivery ceremony in 1997. Is expected to attend. Beijing promised Hong After China summarized its sovereignty, a 50-year Kong of “one country, two systems” that will allow us to maintain unimaginable speech, rallying and press freedom on the mainland. But in the middle of that half-century, Hong Kong’s unique differences diminished as Mr. Xi strengthened control over the city of Beijing.
On his last visit to Hong Kong in 2017, Mr. Xi presided over the 20th anniversary of the delivery and the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Carrie Lam. Its term began as a peaceful rally against the unpopular bill, but transformed into a violent rebel against brutal police tactics and a violation of Beijing’s civil liberties throughout the city. Will be defined by anti-government protests.
Mr. Xi imposed extensive national security legislation on the city in 2020 with the aim of counteracting opposition to the ruling Communist Party. Since then, the arrests of dozens of protesters and democratic supporters and the closure of several media outlets have transformed the city once known for its culture of political activity and free speech.
Foreign consulates invited to attend as part of Hong Kong’s Covid bubble for Mr. Xi’s visit will take a daily Covid test from June 23, a “point-to-point closed loop” system that configures their movements at home. I was instructed to limit to. And the office. “Rallying activities and contact with other people should be avoided,” the Celebration Coordinating Bureau said in a booklet that the New York Times saw, sent to various consulates. Then, on June 30th, the guest told me that I needed to enter the hotel quarantine.
Journalists reporting the event were sent to a hotel on the other side of Victoria Harbor, separate from officials and senior officials. The presence of the media will be smaller and more disciplined than the previous ceremonies commemorating the delivery. According to the Hong Kong Journalists Association, more than 10 journalists have been denied permission to cover Mr. Xi’s visit. When asked to comment on the restrictions, the government said it was balancing media participation with “security requirements.”
In addition to the guests attending the event, hundreds of hotel workers, cleaners, and other personnel who helped enable the closed loop also had to be quarantined.
Kathy Chen Yuktin, a staff member at the Kamlux Hotel in Kowloon Bay, said reporters, government officials and police members had begun quarantine on Wednesday and said they had been quarantining at the hotel since Monday.
Chen, 39, said she missed two 4-year-old twins and three toddler daughters. She volunteered to take a shift during what she called her historic week.
After work, she returns to her hotel room every day to make video calls with her family. “My daughters asked,’Mom, why can’t you go home?'” She said. “But this is my job. There is no other way.”