John Lee pledges to unite patriotic forces during Beijing official’s rare Hong Kong visit
- Shi Taifeng’s inspection tour of city is the first time in nearly a decade that a head of the United Front Work Department has visited
Beijing’s top official in charge of the body responsible for liaising with non-party groups has made a rare inspection tour of Hong Kong and met the city’s leader, who pledged to unite patriotic forces locally to contribute to the nation’s development.
Shi’s Hong Kong trip is the first by a United Front Work Department director in nearly a decade.
The official, also a Politburo member, is expected to stay for three to four days to meet local representatives in business, overseas Chinese organisations and religious groups.
Lee pledged in the meeting that his administration would firmly implement the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong”, and unite those forces to contribute to the construction of Chinese modernisation and the nation’s rejuvenation, according to the city government.
“The Hong Kong government will continue to actively promote efforts from different sectors of the community in leveraging Hong Kong’s strengths to serve the country’s needs, in a bid to contribute to the building of a great country,” Lee said.