Xi Jinping to visit Hong Kong, his first trip outside mainland since Jan, 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Hong Kong next week to mark the 25th anniversary of the former British colony’s 1997 return to China, state news agency Xinhua announced on Saturday, in what would be his first publicised trip outside the mainland since January, 2020, weeks after the Covid-19 virus was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
The handover of Hong Kong took place on July 1, 1997.
“President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland,” Xinhua reported on Saturday.
“Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) central committee and the chairman of the Central Military Commission will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR),” it added.
It gave no indication when Xi will go to Hong Kong or how long he would stay in the city.
The last time Xi went outside the mainland was in January, 2020, to Myanmar.
China declared Covid-19 to be transmissible between humans within a day of Xi’s return, locked down Wuhan in five days and gradually closed international borders in the coming weeks.
Xi’s visit to Hong Kong for the anniversary – considered a big event for the ruling CPC – had been in doubt due to the surge in Covid-19 cases this year.
The confirmation of Xi’s visit comes days after two top Hong Kong officials tested positive for the infection as well as the rising number of new Covid-19 infections in the city.
As many as 1,000 people, including the city’s incumbent leader chief executive Carrie Lam and dozens of lawmakers are said to be in quarantine for the visit, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported earlier citing unnamed sources.
Hong Kong saw rising locally transmitted Covid-19 infections in June after cases ebbed in April and May following the city’s deadliest wave of pandemic earlier this year with over a million residents infected and more than 9,000 dead.
It had raised concerns over a potential visit by any top CPC leader for the July 1 celebrations.
The events during Xi’s visit will include the swearing in of the city’s new leader, John Lee.
In a statement on Saturday, Lee said: “Hong Kong is at the crucial stage of advancing from chaos to governance, and gradually towards prosperity. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to President Xi for his caring and support for Hong Kong.”
It is a tradition for state officials to visit Hong Kong on July 1 – Xi last visited Hong Kong to inaugurate incumbent Carrie Lam in 2017.
Xi’s visit will take place in the backdrop of a severe tightening of rights and freedoms and the jailing of pro-democracy activists.
Local authorities have cracked down on political activity in the city, including the cancellation earlier this month of the annual vigil to mark the Tiananmen massacre of 1989 when a pro-democracy movement was crushed with guns and tanks in Beijing and elsewhere in China.
The curtailment of freedoms has been seen to be against the official “one country, two systems” mechanism put in place ahead of the handover in 1997.
“Xi’s attendance to the event marking 25th anniversary of HK’s return to motherland conveys a great significance to HK & the leader will chart HK’s future course of development since the city has returned to stability & is ready to embrace a new chapter,” the state-run tabloid, Global Times reported.