A key meeting of China's ruling Communist Party has reaffirmed its support for President Xi Jinping and warned of tough measures to deal with the unprecedented unrest in Hong Kong which threatened its national security.
The much-delayed four-day plenary session of over 370 senior officials of the party, amid reports of rumblings in its ranks, ended here late on Thursday, reaffirming its faith in the leadership of the party.
'Plenum reaffirms Party leadership' read the headline of the state-run China Daily, while its deliberations remained confidential.
The conclave was regarded as politically significant for Xi who became the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong, due to the growing unease in the party ranks over protests in Hong Kong, trade war with the US and slowing down of the economy.
Xi, 66, who is in his second five-year term, also heads the party and the military with prospects of a lifelong tenure in power following last year's constitutional amendment removing the two-term limits for the President.
The plenary meeting was long overdue as typically the CPC holds seven plenums in five years to periodically review the policies of the leadership. The last meeting was held in February, 2018.
Hong Kong media reports earlier said it was being held after the "longest interval" which made some China watchers speculate about the discord within the party in view of the crisis on several fronts.
A host of senior party officials, who took selected questions while addressing the press here on Friday, revealed little about the deliberations of the meeting. There was no reference to foreign policy issues discussed at the summit.
The "special timing" of the plenary also known as plenum "demonstrates special importance and strategic significance," Wang Xiaohui, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said.
The closed-door meeting "reviewed and highly applauded the achievements and works made by the political bureau of the party and adopted some of the major decisions to improve socialism with Chinese characteristics, modernising the system and capacity for the governance," he said.
"This is the first time in the history of the party that we had such a very important meeting" because it was held at a "critical moment" of the party and the country, he said.
Wang and several other party officials who spoke on different topics underlined Xi being the "core leader" of the party, highlighting his powerful position at the helm.
While the officials have not spoken about the anxieties over the year-long trade war with the US which has further slowed down the world's second largest economy, they made some strong statements on Hong Kong where the party is struggling to deal with the unending violent protests by pro-democracy agitators.
"Ruling Hong Kong and Macau under the 'one country, two systems' policy is a key component of the governance system of our country and it was an important item for discussion at the plenum," another CPC official Shen Chunyao, director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Basic Law Commission, told the media.
"We will not tolerate anything that challenges the bottom line of the 'one country, two systems' policy or any attempt to split China and undermine China's national security. We will firmly prevent and curtail infiltration and subversion activities by foreign forces," he said.
China accuses the US, the UK and the EU countries of backing and encouraging the protests in Hong Kong, the former British colony handed over to China in 1997.
The protests began some 21 weeks ago over an extradition bill brought in by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, which sparked fear among locals that those facing charges will be extradited to the Chinese mainland.
The bill was withdrawn but it appeared too late as violent protests continued and later transformed into a campaign for greater democratic changes in Hong Kong.
The protestors, mainly youth, demanded Lam's resignation, inquiry into police brutalities and universal franchise of 'one person one vote' with freedom for all the locals to contest the elections for the local legislature.
The plenum formulated 'specific tasks and arrangements' concerning the 'one country, two systems policy', Shen said.
Though the Chinese government followed the 'one country, two systems' policy in governing Hong Kong, the primacy over one country remained, he said.
"We must uphold the principle that 'one country' is the top priority and the foundation for the implementation of 'two systems', he said.
Shen stressed the importance of stepping up patriotic education in Hong Kong and Macau, especially among civil servants and youth who formed the centre of protests.
"(We) support Hong Kong and Macau to develop their economy and improve people's livelihood and make greater efforts in resolving deep-rooted problems that affect social stability and long-term development," he said.
On the economic front, the all-powerful China's state-owned enterprises appear to have made a comeback to play a major role in reviving the economy.
A communique issued at the end of the plenum reaffirmed other issues, including developing socialist democracy, upholding the party's absolute leadership over the military, upholding independent diplomatic policies and enhancing supervision of the exercise of power.
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