By all accounts, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the mainland was a success. He met virtually the entire Chinese leadership, including President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Jiang Zemin.
But initially, the Chinese were not sure that the visit would go so smoothly. At a Foreign Ministry briefing last Thursday, three days before Mr Blair's arrival, a reporter asked: 'Will Blair discuss the Hong Kong issue with the Chinese leadership?' The spokesman responded: 'With respect to the subject of the talks, I shall remind you that the Hong Kong issue is totally an internal affair of China.'
Since 1997, the Chinese government's position has been that foreign countries have no right to criticise because Hong Kong is an internal affair. Mr Hu, during Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's visit, reiterated this position by declaring: 'Hong Kong belongs to China and the people of Hong Kong. We are strongly opposed to the attempt of any foreign forces and other forces from outside to interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong.'
Clearly, the Chinese government was annoyed at the adverse comments on Article 23, which had come from countries such as Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union. The EU, in fact, has issued four statements on Article 23, the latest only a week ago, when it welcomed the Hong Kong government's decision to 'further engage in building consensus on this issue'. It recalled the EU's 'support of the 'one country, two systems' principle and of the preservation of the specific status of Hong Kong and respect for human rights and freedoms enjoyed by its citizens'.
Today, China tends to forget it asked the international community to support the formula. Such support gave those countries the right to monitor the situation in Hong Kong to ensure that China's promises are kept. It is not interference.
As was to be expected, Mr Blair spoke on the Hong Kong issue while on the mainland. Instead of being reprimanded, however, his words were widely disseminated and acclaimed, because he had nothing but praise for the central government. The official China Daily newspaper published an article headlined: 'Blair's appraisal welcome' and an editorial: 'Blair's praise shows his confidence in HK.'