Hong Kong Protests: Xi Jinping Speaks Government Leader Lam "Great Trust"

Against the background of ongoing protests in Hong Kong, China's President Xi Jinping has assured head of government Carrie Lam his support. "The central government has great confidence in you and is fully convinced of your work and your leadership team in Hong Kong," Xi said Monday at a surprise meeting with Lam in Shanghai, according to state news agency Xinhua. It was the first official gathering with Lam since the outbreak of protests in Hong Kong.

"Halting the violence and stopping the chaos in accordance with the law is still the most important task facing Hong Kong," said the Chinese president.

After months of demonstrations, China's communist leadership tightened the tone towards Hong Kong protesters last week. The government announced it would tolerate "no activity" that would split the country or jeopardize national security. The threat triggered renewed, partly violent protests in the Chinese Special Administrative Region at the weekend.

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The meeting between Xi and Lam took place a few days after the Communist Party decided at its annual plenary session to "strengthen the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the protection of national security" in Hong Kong. The autonomous Chinese special administrative region must be governed "strictly" by law and prosperity and stability must be secured in the long term. What should be done concretely did not emerge from the vague communiqué.

Since the beginning of June, the Hong Kong people have demonstrated against their own government and the growing influence of the Beijing leadership on the former British crown colony. Most recently, there were again heavy clashes of police and demonstrators on the weekend.

Since its return to China in 1997, Hong Kong is autonomously ruled as a separate territory under the "one country, two systems" principle. The seven million Hong Kong residents are under China's sovereignty, but, unlike the people of the Communist People's Republic, they enjoy more rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, which they now fear.