City Beat | Why Beijing feels the need to kill a ‘chicken’ when it comes to talk of independence in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Lessons for all in Beijing’s approach to Taiwan and Hong Kong; unity is the only acceptable way forward
On Friday, Qiao Xiaoyang, a retired former top official who had been in charge of the National People’s Congress Basic Law committee, was in town giving a talk to more than 200 senior officials on the country’s just-amended constitution.
Reporters waiting anxiously outside the Tamar government headquarters had one shared question in mind: would Qiao again push the city to introduce its long-awaited national security legislation?
Interestingly, he did not, but he made Beijing’s stance clear enough. Pro-independence calls should not be considered freedom of expression, and he reminded all the participants that while they were serving Hong Kong, they were also serving the country.
Qiao’s comments were not really anything new, but put into context, Beijing’s zero tolerance for any independence attempt can be seen as part of President Xi Jinping’s Chinese dream.
Since taking power more than five years ago, Xi has been promoting the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” dream. But, what does that really mean?