Opinion | Beijing needs to boost confidence as draft Hong Kong security law nears
- Pledge by Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and other top officials to maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international finance hub comes ahead of details of controversial legislation being made public
An important day for China-United States relations and Hong Kong has unfolded in events a world apart. In Shanghai, China chose its showpiece financial forum for its strongest declaration yet of a commitment to maintaining Hong Kong’s status as an international finance hub.
Vice-Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s chief economic adviser, pledged to safeguard the interests of foreign investors and ensure the city will achieve long-term prosperity.
Liu headed a line-up of top finance officials that left no doubt about Beijing’s resolve to protect Hong Kong’s role as a finance centre seen as important to the mainland’s financial modernisation, in the face of concerns arising from the national security law proposed for the city.
They included China Securities Regulatory Commission chairman Yi Huiman, who read out notes prepared by Liu, and China Banking Regulatory Commission chairman Guo Shuqing. The Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai attracts an audience of global regulators, economists and scholars.
In Hawaii, in a significant event for plummeting Sino-US relations, Hong Kong also figured prominently in talks between China’s top foreign affairs official, Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.