Beijing: During his first official visit to Beijing this week, Hong Kong leader John Lee announced on Tuesday that he would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to report on the political, economic and COVID-19 situations in the city.
In a news conference, Li announced that he would leave on Wednesday afternoon on a four-day visit. According to the local government, Macao Chief Executive Ho Iyat Seng will visit and discuss the administration's achievements over the past year and plans for the coming year.
Lee pledged to heed the wishes of Hong Kongers to reopen the border with mainland China, but did not set a timetable for doing so. For most of the pandemic, checkpoints between Hong Kong and China have been closed.
He stressed that the central government "well understands the long-standing expectations of Hong Kong residents for the re-opening of the border and normalized exchanges."
On July 1, former security minister Li assumed leadership of the city. In May running for sole candidate for Chief Executive of Hong Kong, he received over 99% of the vote from a committee made up of mainly pro-Beijing members.
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Hours after the city's top court approved Jimmy Lai's plan to be represented by British attorney Timothy Owen for his national security trial, Li last month asked Beijing to issue a ruling that would allow Lai to be represented by a British lawyer. can effectively prevent them from being hired. Lai is a well-known pro-democracy publisher.
On Tuesday, Li said mainland officials supported his decision, and added that he believed Beijing would hold elections as soon as possible.
As the city awaits Beijing's decision, Lai's trial, originally scheduled to begin on December 1, has been postponed until next September.
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A crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement resulted in the arrest in 2020 of the 75-year-old founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. Colony, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
