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Sun Jianguo, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the PLA, right, greets Vincent Brooks, Commanding General of the US Army Pacific, in Beijing on January 15. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong added to Beijing's list of 'core interests' amid post-Occupy unease

City raised as key national issue in Sino-US talks in sign of post-Occupy unease in the capital

Hong Kong has been named publicly as one of China's "core interests and key concerns" in a veiled warning from Beijing to Washington over territorial issues.

The rare reference surfaced in a military-to-military meeting in Beijing on Tuesday between PLA deputy chief of general staff Sun Jianguo and US undersecretary of defence for intelligence Michael Vickers, the reported.

Mainland analysts and Hong Kong politicians said the remarks signalled higher concern in the capital about US interference in Hong Kong since the Occupy Central protests.

In listing the core matters, Sun mentioned Hong Kong after Taiwan, but before the East and South China seas and cybersecurity, the report said. "The US should earnestly respect China's core interests and key concerns," Sun was quoted as saying.

His remarks follow repeated claims from mainland media and Hong Kong officials that "foreign forces" had meddled in the city's politics. US President Barack Obama said in November that the US had no role in the protests, but called for transparent and fair elections in Hong Kong.

In a white paper in 2011, Beijing defined its core interests as national sovereignty, national security, territorial integrity, national unity, stability of its political system and society in line with its constitution, and sustainable socio-economic development.

Renmin University international relations specialist Jin Canrong said Sun's remarks indicated that "China does not trust the US, and believes the US is involved in Occupy Central".

Retired PLA major general Xu Guangyu agreed that Beijing was sending a message to the US. "Sun is telling the US to calm down and not to have any illusions about using Hong Kong to stir things up," Xu said.

Peking University international relations professor Jia Qingguo said: "Any attempts to demand independence is an act to split the nation. Beijing will not allow it, and is asking the US not to be involved."

But Albert Ho Chun-yan, former chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, said the more high-handed Beijing was towards Hong Kong, "the more Hongkongers will alienate themselves from the mainland and feel closer to Britain and America in terms of core values. This will only create more trouble".

New People's Party lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said Occupy Central and the saga surrounding US whistleblower Edward Snowden had prompted the national security officials to put Hong Kong on the agenda with their counterparts.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was unaware of the details of the meeting. The defence ministry said only that core interests were defined in the 2011 white paper.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: HK added to Beijing’s ‘core interests’
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