HONG KONG: Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Hong Kong Thursday, encouraging massive security efforts ahead of the celebration that marks the 25th anniversary of the surrender of the city to the Communist China.
Government leaders have been forced into a closed loop system, the city section is closed, and some journalists are prohibited from Friday events that will show the control of the communist party over the city after political crushing which dismantles the democratic movement and destroy differences of opinion.
Details around the trip, the first mainland China outside Xi since Pandemi Covid-19 began, has been stored in a pack, but it is expected to make an appearance in Hong Kong on Thursday and Friday.
However, Chinese leaders are likely to spend the night in neighboring Shenzhen on land, according to local media.
Those who came to Orbit XI during the trip, including the highest-ranking government officials, had been made to limit their social contact, took the daily PCR test and examined the Quarantine Hotel on the days before the visit.
“To play safe, if we will meet the most important leader and other leaders in close range, I think it’s good to enter the closed loop settings,” the Pro-Beijing Regina IP veteran politician told AFP.
The authorities have moved to eliminate the potential source of shame during XI time in the city, with the National Security Police making at least nine arrests over the past week.
League of Social Democrats, one of the remaining Hong Kong opposition groups, said it would not show on July 1 after the national security officers spoke with volunteers related to the group.
And the top voting group Hong Kong announced that they would postpone the issuance of a survey that measured the popularity of the government “in response to the advice of the relevant government department after their risk assessment”.
The handover of July 1’s handover in Hong Kong is traditionally marked by tens of thousands who took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations every year.
But mass meetings basically disappeared in Hong Kong over the past few years under a mixture of limiting Coronavirus and security crush aimed at eliminating public opposition to Chinese rules without compromise over the city.
Patriotism on display
The authorities have limited media coverage about XI’s visit, with the government forbidding several journalists to cover the surrounding event.
On Wednesday, AFP confirmed that 13 local and international journalists were rejected by accreditation to cover the handover celebration.
Two AFP journalists were among those who were rejected, with a government official who quoted an unspecified “security reasons”. The third AFP reporter is then given accreditation.
The Hong Kong journalist association stated “in -depth regret” of rejection and said quarantine and testing requirements made by journalists to undergo difficult staff substitutions.
The government told the media that the decision was “balance as far as possible between the needs of media work and security requirements”.
The police on Tuesday announced the closure of a large -scale road on Hong Kong Island and while prohibiting drone flying throughout the city, quoting security issues.
Certain sites in all financial centers have also been closed, including high-speed railroad terminals, performance places for Chinese opera and Hong Kong Science Park.
A number of Science Park workers told AFP that they had not received a notification about XI’s visit but said they were told to work from home on Thursday.
The authorities also try to describe the image of public support for the celebration, including the mass appearance of the Hong Kong and Chinese flags wrapped in dozens of public housing plantations.
In one plantation, a 26 -year -old resident surnamed Chan complained of a small flag that had been placed outside every floor on the stairs. “That is not necessary and too much,” he told AFP.
Tony, a worker on the plantation, said the display would be better if done by residents voluntarily.
“Are we really embracing this ideology?” He told AFP.
“People might be rejected … if it’s excessive.”