Xia Baolong visits Hong Kong to solicit views on Article 23: sources

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong will visit Hong Kong from Thursday to next Tuesday (Feb 22 – 27) to solicit views on Article 23 of the Basic Law, according to sources. 

Xia’s trip will include meetings with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, members of the Legislative Council and the Executive Council, representatives from legal bodies, and district councilors. 

Responding to media inquiries on Tuesday morning, Lee said officials from the Central Government care for Hong Kong very much. 

No matter whether it was President Xi Jinping or other officials, they all emphasized on the city’s economic development and livelihood during his two duty visits to Beijing, Lee said. 

He added that the government will make an official announcement if officials in his cabinet or from the Central Government have any activities. 

Xia visited Hong Kong in April last year, when he delivered a keynote address at a ceremony for the city’s National Security Education Day. 

“While Hong Kong may appear to be peaceful and calm, there are indeed undercurrents,” he said at the time. 

“The root causes for ‘chaos’ have not yet been eliminated, and the foundation of ‘orderly governance’ needs to be fortified.” 

(Staff reporter and Bloomberg)