Xi Jinping sees protests in Hong Kong as a threat to the party
Never mind that demonstrators in the territory avoid attacking him directly
STRIKINGLY OFTEN, campaigners for Western-style freedoms in Hong Kong pretend that they are not seeking a fight with the Communist Party of China. Rather, activists say that their goals and those of party chiefs in Beijing should be nicely aligned: both camps seek continued prosperity for Hong Kong, 22 years after the former British colony became a free-market enclave in China, under the slogan “one country, two systems”. Instead, the campaigners sound crossest with Hong Kong’s government, for failing to maintain a strict enough separation from the mainland.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “What next for Hong Kong?”
From the June 29th 2019 edition
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