Xinhua (June 25) announced that CCP CC General Secretary Xi Jinping will attend the
celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the
inauguration ceremony of the sixth government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Hong Kong media quoted sources as saying that Xi Jinping was initially scheduled to
stay in Hongkong on June 30 and July 1, but will not stay in Hong Kong overnight. One Chinese
commentator said if he does not stay overnight in Hong Kong, it reflects that he is uneasy
about many things such as the epidemic and security in Hong Kong. Hongkong's "Sing Tao
Daily" quoted a source as saying that although the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong
has increased, Xi Jinping hopes to come to Hong Kong to attend the celebration in person on
the big day of the 25th anniversary of the handover, unless there are unpredictable
circumstances. The authorities are worried that once Xi Jinping's itinerary is made public, there
will be petitions against Xi Jinping in Hong Kong. From the CCP's point of view, this is a
political accident, so the authorities don't want this to happen.
(Comment: Till this announcement there were doubts whether Xi Jinping would travel to
Hongkong because some of the senior officials of the HKSAR have Covid. If Xi Jinping travels
to Hongkong it will also be his first trip outside Mainland China in over two years.)
In a statement to Bloomberg News, the Hong Kong police said it will officially swap Britishstyle marching for the “goose step” used in mainland China on July 1. The statement said, “To
promote patriotism and enhance the awareness of national identity, the Hong Kong Police
Force will fully adopt Chinese foot drills from July 1.”
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