Beijing’s point man overseeing Hong Kong affairs is set to visit the city later this month as it marks the fifth anniversary of the imposition of the national security law and he will speak on the occasion, the Post has learned.
Sources told the Post that Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), was planning a visit to the city and was likely to attend a national security legal forum organised by the Department of Justice and scheduled for June 21.
“The authorities have been working on Xia’s itinerary. An option is to inspect the progress of the Northern Metropolis,” an insider said on Tuesday, referring to the megadevelopment which involves turning 30,000 hectares of land near the city’s border with mainland China into an economic powerhouse and a housing hub.
Xia’s scheduled visit will come three weeks after Beijing appointed Zhou Ji as the new director of its liaison office in Hong Kong, replacing Zheng Yanxiong who was in the role for 2½ years, with analysts deeming the reshuffle a sign of shifting priorities to focus more on economic development amid a challenging geopolitical environment.
The occasion Xia is expected to speak at is an annual legal forum to mark the anniversary of the Beijing-imposed security law enacted in 2020 after months of anti-government protests, aimed at preventing, stopping and punishing secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
