Beijing has strengthened its guidance to Hong Kong in the past five years under President Xi Jinping, a leading mainland intellectual has noted.

Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University's law school in Beijing and director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said Xi's speech in Hong Kong during the 25th handover anniversary ceremony on July 1 was a significant development in the process.

In an interview with The Standard's sister newspaper Sing Tao Daily, Tian said Xi's speech has made the centrality and focus of "one country" prominent.

He also said the "four hopes" Xi raised in his speech - better governance, stronger development, improved lives for ordinary people, and defending harmony and stability - reflected the constitutional function of the state leader in supervising and guiding Hong Kong.

He remarked too that the "patriots administering Hong Kong" also raised by Xi has become a guiding principle in the SAR's high degree of autonomy.

That patriots' principle, he added, helps in offseting words that can fog people's minds and also offsets fallacies in political campaigns from the past.

So the principle is crucial in one country, two systems being implemented steadfastly and successfully.

Tian also said Beijing's mindset on ruling Hong Kong has shifted from "well water should not mix with river water" in Jiang Zemin's era, to "do something" in Hu Jintao's era and now "being highly proactive."

He added: "Such changes have shown the central government now has a more scientific and complete recognition of its role and functions in one country, two systems."

But he said Hong Kong still has a long way to go in fulfilling the requirements of the new chapter of one country, two systems in areas like education, rule of law, social culture and sense of national identity. So the SAR has to make improvements to offset its deficiencies.

Academic spells out patriot's progress