Beijing Backs Hong Kong leader despite election setback

China’s top leader backed Chief Executive Carrie Lam of Hong Kong Monday despite the monthslong protests that have rocked the city and the recent landslide defeat in local elections of political parties aligned with her.

>> Keith Bradsher and Austin RamzyThe New York Times
Published : 17 Dec 2019, 05:08 AM
Updated : 17 Dec 2019, 05:08 AM

Xi Jinping, China’s president, praised Lam for her “courage and responsibility” during what he called the “gravest and most complicated year” in Hong Kong since it returned to China from Britain in 1997.

In an implicit warning to the protesters who seek greater autonomy for the region, Xi also stressed that Beijing had an “unwavering determination to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests.”

Lam’s visit to Beijing over the weekend and Monday was an annual year-end event for Hong Kong’s leaders, at which their performance is assessed by China’s leaders. But her visit is being closely watched for signs of her fate as Hong Kong’s leader after six months of protests punctuated by frequent street violence.

The protests began in June over an unpopular extradition bill Lam pushed to pass that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be extradited to mainland China to face trial in a Communist Party-controlled judicial system. Lam has quickly become a personal target for the city’s protesters, who see her as a symbol of a leadership that is overly beholden to its patrons in Beijing and not accountable to the city’s 7 million people.

Earlier Monday, Lam also met with China’s No. 2 official, Premier Li Keqiang, who praised her for rolling out a series of measures to help businesses and stabilize employment.

“You have been leading the government in safeguarding social stability with the utmost effort,” Li said to Lam in a televised excerpt released by the Hong Kong government.

“It can be said that you rose to the challenges,” he said. “The central government fully affirms the efforts that you and the government have made.”

Li added that Hong Kong had not escaped its predicament. He called on Lam’s government to continue working to “stop the violence and curb disorder.”

He said officials should work quickly to find solutions to “deep-rooted contradictions and problems” in Hong Kong’s society and economy. The Chinese government has previously urged Hong Kong’s leaders to address high housing prices, a yawning wealth gap and other economic issues.

Lam herself has said that she is willing to do whatever is necessary to bring peace to the city although she has denied rumors that she actually submitted her resignation over the summer. Senior Hong Kong officials and Beijing’s advisers have said that even if she wanted to resign, China’s leaders would not allow her to do so, because that might be seen as a sign of weakness on their part.

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