A top Chinese official said on Saturday Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy must not be taken as a license to confront Beijing, and urged the territory’s government to implement contentious new national security laws.
The comments by Zhang Dejiang, China’s number three official who oversees Hong Kong affairs, highlight growing concerns at Beijing’s top leadership about a fledgling independence or secessionist movement in the former British colony.
They come as Hong Kong, which returned to mainland rule in 1997 amid promises of wide-ranging autonomy under the formula of “one country, two systems”, is set to celebrate the 20th anniversary