President Xi Jinping will travel to Hong Kong on Thursday for the 25th anniversary of the city's handover from British to Chinese rule. As many in Hong Kong mourn the erosion of freedoms, the proceedings are a chance for Xi to cement personal power.
to Hong Kong’s electoral system that allowed Beijing to prescreen political candidates.
Many born around 1997 feel betrayed. Jeff Yau, 25, grew up with a sense that the handover had been a happy event, but more recently has come to fear for the city’s future. “I feel a bit suffocated and I feel like Hong Kong is less open than Western countries,” he said.Despite the jubilant tone in Chinese state media ahead of Friday’s ceremonies, there are signs that Xi remains uneasy about Beijing’s grip in Hong Kong.
Much of Hong Kong has been shut down to ensure the visit runs smoothly. Tall, water-filled barricades line the streets near the exhibition center where celebrations will be held. The legislative council canceled its weekly meeting so lawmakers could quarantine and meet strict coronavirus restrictions for the ceremonies. Police banned drones across Hong Kong during the visit.were barred from covering proceedings, according to the South China Morning Post.
For Hong Kong’s older generation, 1997 was also a profoundly uncertain time. Claudia Tang, 59, left the city for Australia at the time expecting to emigrate but later returned. She is now broadly optimistic about the future of Hong Kong, despite Beijing’s dominance.“I feel like national education is a good thing. Many young people do not understand what ‘one country, two systems’ means,” she said.
That confusion may be in part because China’s explanations have shifted over time. Gone are former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s pithy pre-1997 promises that Hong Kong’s “horses will still be raced and dances will be danced” after the handover. Replacing them are Xi’s views, as stated at the 20th handover anniversary, that “one country” forms the deep roots of a system of governance “advanced, first and foremost, to realize and uphold national unity.
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