A handshake between China’s president and Hong Kong’s financial secretary - but what does it mean?
President Xi Jinping’s brief handshake with Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah during a key international meeting in Beijing has raised eyebrows in Hong Kong, where political signals from Beijing are subject to all kinds of interpretation.
President Xi Jinping’s brief handshake with Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah during a key international meeting in Beijing has raised eyebrows in Hong Kong, where political signals from Beijing are subject to all kinds of interpretation.
News footage of yesterday’s event showed Xi striding into the hall where he presided over a meeting with the 57 founding member states of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, then approaching and wordlessly shaking hands with Tsang.
Xi did not extend the same gesture to other members of the Chinese delegation, rather walking past them to the front of the hall.
No matter how remote the possibility, speculation is swirling among political observers that the handshake might indicate Beijing’s preference for Tsang to replace Leung Chun-ying as Hong Kong’s chief executive in two years.
Finance chief Tsang was part of the Chinese delegation attending the signing ceremony of the Articles of Agreement for the AIIB, a regional lender initiated by China as a counterpoint to the World Bank. Xi hosted the meeting with the founding members and the Chinese delegation.