Implement the Basic Law better, Xi Jinping tells Hong Kong and Macau
- Chinese president calls on the two special administrative regions to ‘improve the systems and mechanisms’ vital to upholding ‘one country, two systems’
- Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Xi also said China would not give up ‘an inch’ of its territory
President Xi Jinping has called for improvements in Hong Kong’s implementation of its mini-constitution, the Basic Law, as he emphasised Beijing’s firm political will and strong capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Speaking at a ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up, Xi also said: “To accomplish the motherland’s complete reunification is a common aspiration of all children of the Chinese nation. … Not an inch of the motherland’s holy territory can be separated from it.”
On the sidelines of the meeting, Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs chief Zhang Xiaoming was asked if Xi’s warning was related to Hong Kong.
“It was mainly targeted at Taiwan, but Hong Kong also needs to handle the issue of ‘Hong Kong independence’ in accordance with the law,” Zhang said.
Xi’s 90-minute speech at the Great Hall of the People started with the president’s reflections, or what Beijing insisted on, during the last four decades of reforms.