Hong Kong has overcome its challenges and “risen from the ashes”, China’s President Xi Jinping said on Thursday, as he arrived in the former British colony to celebrate 25 years since its return to Chinese rule.
Xi is to swear in the global financial hub’s new leader, John Lee, on Friday during his first visit to the city since 2017, which is also his first known trip outside the mainland in more than two years, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wearing masks, Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, stepped off a high-speed train to be greeted by children waving flowers and Chinese and Hong Kong flags who chanted, “Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome” in Mandarin.
“Hong Kong has withstood severe tests again and again, overcoming challenges one by one,” Xi said. “After the wind and rain, Hong Kong has risen from the ashes.”
Authorities organised a lion dance celebration while a police band played. Heavy security surrounded the train station, with police making stop-and-search checks, assisted by sniffer dogs.
Some analysts see Xi’s visit as a victory lap after Beijing tightened its control of Hong Kong with a sweeping national security law, following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Outgoing leader Carrie Lam and her husband were among those who welcomed Xi at the train station, unused for two years because of the pandemic.
City streets were festooned with red China flags and posters declaring a “new era” of stability.
Xi’s full official schedule for the visit has not been released. It was not immediately clear if the celebrations would be affected by a typhoon forecast by weather officials on Wednesday.
On his last visit to Hong Kong, Xi warned against any acts endangering China’s sovereignty, saying the city needed to beef up its national security arrangements.
While tens of thousands of protesters had marched during Xi’s visit five years ago, no protests are expected this year.
