Xi’s melding of Beijing’s authority and Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy works well, top official says
Chinese president sets framework for how city and Macau should be governed in flexible and natural manner at 19th Communist Party congress
President Xi Jinping’s vision for Hong Kong of a blending of the concepts of central authority and a high degree of autonomy should work well and does not need to lead to confrontation or tension, said a Beijing top official.
Commenting on Xi’s spelling out of the relationship between the two at the 19th party congress’ opening, Zhang Xiaoming said: “A special administrative region’s power of high degree of autonomy was delegated by the central government, it branched out from Beijing’s sovereignty and comprehensive jurisdiction over it.”
Zhang, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was speaking to People’s Daily after Xi’s speech.
The president had set the course for Hong Kong and Macau’s governance, calling for the melding of the two concepts of authority and autonomy to be achieved in a flexible and natural way.
In an unprecedented move, he also cited these two concepts as an integral part of the Communist Party’s governance ideology and fundamental strategies in his five-yearly work report.
Beijing’s position on having complete jurisdiction over the two special administrative regions and the “one country, two systems” model in which they enjoy a high degree of autonomy will now become part of the ideological canon of the party.
