Xi says Hong Kong faced ‘grimmest’ challenge in 2019

Bloomberg

President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong this year faced its “grimmest and most complicated” situation since returning to Chinese rule, urging the city to come back to the “right path.”
Xi reaffirmed support for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam as he hosted the embattled chief executive for her annual duty visit to Beijing. He praised her efforts to stimulate the battered Hong Kong economy and called on the city’s residents to help overcome challenges after more than six months of pro-democracy protests.
“The central government fully recognizes the courage and responsibility you demonstrated in such testing times,” Xi told Lam in briefly televised remarks. “We will continue to firmly support you in leading the Hong Kong government to rule in accordance to the law, to firmly support the police force in strictly enforcing the law, and hope that various sectors would come together to put Hong Kong’s development back on the right path.”
Lam said the Hong Kong economy’s “return to the right path” would require the continued support of the central government in Beijing. When asked whether Chinese leaders had pressured her to introduce a national security law as required by Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, Lam said such legislation would require “favorable opportunities, a favorable environment and conditions” and that the current priority was to stop violence and restore order.
“During my meeting with the premier, I suggested that the central government could in the future introduce measures favorable to Hong Kong in different economic areas.