Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in a Hong Kong decked out from head to toe on Thursday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his return to the sovereignty of the motherland. With his trip, the first outside mainland China since the pandemic began, the president certifies the stabilization and the taking of control over the region after the recent political turmoil. But the thousands of posters, flower arrangements and flags displayed are not enough to hide the feelings of a part of the population, devastated by the authoritarian drift of recent years.
Upon their arrival by train, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were greeted by a procession of local authorities and a group of citizens waving national flags. In a brief speech, the president stressed that the region has gone through “several severe challenges, one after another, and has overcome them”, a reference to the pro-democracy protests of 2019. “After the wind and the rain, Hong Kong re-emerged from the ashes and showed strong vitality,” he added poetically.
To achieve this "resurgence", Beijing imposed a National Security law in 2020 that punishes crimes of sedition, subversion or terrorism with up to life imprisonment. Since its approval, the political opposition has been silenced, and its leaders are locked up or in exile; several critical media have closed down; the electoral system was reformed so that only “patriots” can access public office; and tens of thousands of citizens have put land in the middle course to countries like Canada, Australia or Great Britain, which have modified their laws to accommodate them.
“On the outside, the forms are maintained, with our own currency or passport. It is the spirit that they have broken, they force us to be like any other Chinese city,” local financier Kingsley Poon complained.
He still keeps fresh the memory of 25 years ago, when under a tremendous downpour the Union Jack was lowered for the last time and, immediately afterwards, the Chinese flag was raised. “Among us there was a certain fear,” acknowledges Francisco de las Heras, a veteran Dominican friar who has been in the city for half a century. During the previous years, up to half a million Hong Kongers had applied for a second passport or emigrated for fear of the Communist Party, which eight before had repressed the Tiananmen protests with blood and fire. "One year, a quarter of our teachers left," he adds, an episode in which he sees similarities with the current situation.
At that time, Hong Kong was guaranteed by the ingenious principle of one country two systems formulated by Deng Xiaoping, which allowed it to preserve its freedoms, independent courts and the capitalist system for the next 50 years. Initially, the relationship was stable, with Chinese investment and tourism helping to fuel local GDP growth. Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister who reluctantly negotiated the handover of Hong Kong, went so far as to say that initial fears were unjustified.
But little by little, other less welcome changes were arriving. The influx of Chinese from the mainland sent housing prices skyrocketing and saturated maternity wards and nurseries. Meanwhile, the territory was losing economic weight in the face of Chinese strength. Many of the most coveted jobs went to well-connected mainlanders in the interior to the detriment of locals. The discontent and the lack of decision-making power over their internal affairs, also at the political level, crystallized in street demonstrations such as those of 2014, known as the Umbrella movement, or those of 2019 already mentioned.
After his coup on the table, Xi now no longer has to worry about witnessing public acts of protest like those that took place during his previous visit in 2017. One of the few remaining active pro-democracy groups has indicated that it will not convene the traditional demonstration of the July 1 after the police summoned several of its members. Numerous journalists, local and foreign, have been denied access to official events for health or security reasons. Instead, the president will rub shoulders only with "patriotic" officials and loyal local elites -- tycoons, academics, businessmen -- with whom he briefly met Thursday at the Convention Center before visiting downtown, Parque de Sciences and attend a banquet.
After spending the night in Shenzhen, Xi will participate today in the central events of the anniversary and will swear in the new local chief executive, John Lee. The former Secretary of Security, the only candidate who presented himself for the post to replace the reviled Carrie Lam, has the backing of the central government to put an end to any redoubt of dissent and advance the policies dictated from the capital. An unappetizing future even for many of those who once celebrated the return to China. “This is certainly not what we were promised,” laments Poon.
