Why was China’s domestic security chief Guo Shengkun at Carrie Lam’s meeting with Xi Jinping?
- It was not clear if Guo talked to Lam but his presence spoke volumes about Beijing’s concerns, observers say
Monday’s meeting was part of the city leader’s annual duty trip to brief the president, an event at which the president is usually joined by a group of top Beijing officials overseeing Hong Kong and Macau.
This time, the group included Vice-Premier Han Zheng, the top Communist Party leader on the two cities’ affairs; foreign affairs chief Yang Jiechi; United Front Work Department head You Quan; Xi’s chief of staff Ding Xuexiang; Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Zhang Xiaoming; and Wang Zhimin, the head of central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong.
Like Yang and Ding, Guo is one of the 25 members of the decision-making Politburo, but he also oversees China’s police force, spy agency, prosecutors and judiciary.
One source familiar with the duty visit’s arrangements said Guo had led an inter-agency rapid-response team set up in Shenzhen to monitor Hong Kong’s anti-government protests, now in their sixth month.