Ex-leader Tung Chee-hwa warns that Hong Kong has become a sticking point preventing better China-US relations
- Tung, a vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, says Hong Kong has been an indisputable part of country since British rule ended in 1997
- Former chief executive also noted that China had not ‘intruded in Hong Kong affairs for the past 22 years’
Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa has warned that the city has become one of the biggest sticking points, along with Xinjiang and Taiwan, preventing better relations between China and the US and other Western powers.
Blaming a campaign against Beijing based on misconceptions and misunderstanding, Tung said Hong Kong had been an indisputable part of the country since the end of British rule in 1997, and Western powers had no authority over the city.
Tung, now a vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, was the keynote speaker on Tuesday at the opening of the annual China Conference: United States, organised by the South China Morning Post.
Referring to the “one country, two systems” governing principle under which the city is guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for 50 years, Tung noted that China had not “intruded in Hong Kong affairs for the past 22 years”.
“During the height of last year’s street riots, it would be easy, and within its rights, for China to send in law enforcement forces to quell the riots. But China refrained from doing so,” he said.
“China would never want to destroy one country, two systems; China only wants it to succeed.”
