‘Xi isn’t tightening China’s grip on HK’

Bloomberg

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered personal assurances that he wouldn’t use protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to increase Beijing’s control over the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, as she used a World Economic Forum visit to try and reassure global investors.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television in Davos, Lam pushed back against protesters who say China is tightening its grip on Hong Kong and maintained the Asian financial centre remains stable despite more than seven months of violent protests.
“There is no truth in the allegation that the central government is tightening the grip on Hong Kong,” Lam said. “The central government has time and again made it very clear that they want Hong Kong to succeed under ‘one country, two systems’ and a high degree of autonomy.”
“It was made very clear to me by President Xi Jinping on the three occasions that I met him” in recent months, she added.
Lam arrived in Davos after a fresh bout of protest violence in downtown Hong Kong, with four police officers injured in clashes with demonstrators following an otherwise peaceful rally.
More than seven months of pro-democracy protests have battered the former British colony’s economy, undermined its reputation for political stability and increased geopolitical tensions between the US and China.
China has governed Hong Kong since 1997 under a “one country, two systems” framework that preserves its freedom of expression, independent courts and capitalist financial system. The city’s pro-democracy opposition has accused Beijing of eroding that autonomy and stonewalling calls for meaningful direct elections of the chief executive, who’s currently selected by a 1,200-member committee.
In the interview, Lam pushed back against the idea that Beijing was calling the shots in Hong Kong as the city grappled with the protests, maintaining that Hong Kong has a significant degree of autonomy.
She said she “almost immediately” suspended legislation allowing extraditions to China that initially prompted the unrest, and that “one has to wonder what are the underlying factors that have caused this sustained social unrest.”