Chinese President Xi Jinping has proclaimed his intention to allow Macau and Hong Kong a “high degree of autonomy” in the future, but says China will exercise its “overall jurisdiction” over the two special administrative regions including achieving full reunification.
The leader’s comments came during a speech lasting more than three hours at the opening ceremony of the 19th Communist Party congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Insisting that the “One Country, Two Systems” policy of governance would continue, President Xi said, “We have made new progress in work related to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. We have fully and faithfully implemented the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and ensured that the central government exercises its overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong and Macau as mandated by the Chinese constitution and the Basic Law of the two Special Administrative Regions.
“We have boosted exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and the regions and maintained prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macau.
“Maintaining lasting prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macau and achieving China’s full reunification are essential to realizing national rejuvenation. We should ensure the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ remain unchanged, is unswervingly upheld and in practice, is not bent or distorted.”
Pointing to the role both Macau and Hong Kong will play in the ongoing development of the Greater Bay Area, President Xi said, “We will remain committed to the policy of the Hong Kong people to govern Hong Kong, Macau people to govern Macau, with patriots playing the principal role.
“We will foster patriotism and a stronger sense of national identity among people in Hong Kong and Macau. With this, our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macau will share both responsibility of national rejuvenation and the pride of a strong and prosperous China.
However, he also pointed indirectly to recent rumblings in Hong Kong by independence groups, reminding the SAR of its role in “maintaining law and order to fulfilling the constitutional responsibility of safeguarding China’s sovereignty and security and development interests.”
President Xi was more direct in his plans for Taiwan, reaffirming the party’s stance that any push for independence would be quashed.
He said his government would “resolutely safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity and will absolutely not tolerate the tragedy of the country’s split.
“Any activity aiming to split the motherland will be firmly opposed by all the Chinese people,” he said. “We have a firm will, sufficient faith and adequate capacity to defeat any intention of ‘Taiwan independence’ in any form. We will never allow any person, any organization, any political party, at any time, in any form, to separate any piece of Chinese territory from China.”
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