Freedom and democracy have vanished from Hong Kong, Taiwan’s premier said Friday as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the former British colony to mark the 25th anniversary of its handover to China.
• Also read: Hong Kong: “No reason to change the principle of ‘one country, two systems’,” asserts Xi Jinping
“You only have to see the suffering of Hong Kong people to know whether Hong Kong is doing better or worse,” Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters in Taipei.
“It’s only been 25 years, and in the past the promise was 50 years without change,” he added, referring to Beijing’s pledge that Hong Kong could keep its freedoms until 2047.
The promise that “the dance will go on and the horses will keep running is over, and even freedom and democracy are over,” he lamented, echoing a quote from former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who promised Hong Kongers life would be better afterward wouldn’t change the handover.
Xi Jinping was in Hong Kong on Friday to laud Beijing’s authority over the city and assure that “true democracy” has been in place there since the handover in 1997.
The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, but considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to one day take it back, by force if necessary.
He proposed to Taiwan a “one country, two systems” principle of government similar to that which theoretically ensures Hong Kong some autonomy and respect for freedoms.
That proposal was widely opposed across Taiwan’s political spectrum, a position reinforced by the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong in recent years.
Mr. Su urged Taiwan to stand firm on its sovereignty, freedoms and democracy.
“China’s ‘one country, two systems’ just hasn’t worked,” he said.