‘Two sessions’: top state official says Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy won’t be undermined by central government, cites Beijing’s insistence on accountability for city’s Covid crisis
- The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office told a group of local delegates to the nation’s top advisory body that the ‘one country, two systems’ model would persist beyond 2047
- On Tuesday, another top official had pledged to ‘improve’ Beijing’s system for exercising ‘comprehensive jurisdiction’ over the city, raising questions about the future of the governing principle
Mainland China’s firm support and insistence on accountability for Hong Kong in its Covid-19 battle has shown that the city’s “high degree of autonomy” will not be undermined by the central government’s jurisdiction, a top Beijing official has said.
Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, stressed that local authorities must shoulder the main responsibility for battling the epidemic, but added Beijing did not blame Hong Kong for the crisis.
Instead, the central government has joined hands with various mainland provinces to support the city, according to Xia, who said he believed that everyone involved in the struggle would “see the rainbow after the storm”.
The senior mainland official made the remarks on Wednesday at a meeting in Beijing with Hong Kong delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation’s top advisory body.
Xia reassured the delegates that Beijing would maintain a steady supply of food and other necessities to Hong Kong, adding that the mainland had sent 900 million yuan (US$142.44 million) worth of supplies to the city.
