Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says Beijing committed to city’s semi-autonomy

Chief executive says ‘meaningless speculation and suspicion’ could harm the ‘one country, two systems’ principle

Reading Time:2 minutes

Lam said ‘meaningless speculation and suspicion’ could harm the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:33pm, 16 Nov 2017Updated: 12:08pm, 17 Nov 2017

Hong Kong’s leader played down concerns over Beijing’s perceived tighter control of the city on Thursday, and said the central government was committed to upholding the “one country, two systems” principle that guarantees the city’s high degree of autonomy.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned that “meaningless speculation and suspicion” could harm the principle.

The comments came after President Xi Jinping told the 19th Communist Party congress in Beijing last month that the central government’s “overall jurisdiction” over Hong Kong should be combined with the city’s high degree of autonomy in an “organic” way.

Lam told the RTHK television programme Legco Review that she saw no conflict between the two.

“Sometimes it is because of some misunderstanding or oversensitive reaction,” she said. “Sometimes someone says something out of their care for Hong Kong but it is seen as interfering in Hong Kong affairs. Sometimes the chief executive tries to explain the central government’s policies but then I would be seen as currying favour with the central government.

Xi Jinping wants Beijing’s ‘overall jurisdiction’ over Hong Kong combined with the city’s high degree of autonomy. Photo: EPA

“This kind of meaningless speculation and suspicion does no good to the successful implementation of the one country, two systems policy.”