Attended the 25th Anniversary of Sovereignty Return Event... First Visit Outside Mainland China Since COVID-19
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the region for the first time since the large-scale anti-government protests in 2019. This will be Xi's second visit to Hong Kong during his term.
China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on the 25th that President Xi will visit Hong Kong to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty. According to Xinhua, Xi is scheduled to attend the 25th anniversary commemoration ceremony of Hong Kong's sovereignty handover and the inauguration ceremony of the 6th-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the 1st of next month.
Xi's visit to Hong Kong is the first since the large-scale anti-government protests that occurred in Hong Kong in 2019. With this trip, Xi will be visiting outside mainland China for the first time in about two and a half years since January 2020, when COVID-19 began to spread widely in China.
Xi's visit to Hong Kong, along with Taiwan and Xinjiang, where the US and Europe have intensified their offensive against China, is interpreted as a demonstration of his determination not to yield to Western pressure both domestically and internationally.
It also appears to support John Lee, the next Chief Executive and former police officer, who is expected to accelerate the already rapidly progressing "Sinicization of Hong Kong." Earlier, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, "So much has happened over the past five years that I believe there will be an important speech by a national leader outlining the future development direction of Hong Kong."
However, Xinhua's report only states that Xi will "attend" the 25th anniversary events of the Hong Kong handover, without specifying detailed visit schedules, leaving open the possibility of "online attendance" via video speech.
Recently, Hong Kong has been reporting over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases daily. However, considering that when Xi participates in international meetings online, Chinese state media explicitly mention "attendance via video," and since such wording was absent in this case, it is highly likely that Xi will visit in person.
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