China Leader Issues Warning Against Hong Kong Independence Push
Source: Bloomberg News
Chinas top official for Hong Kong denounced calls for the citys independence, urging the former British colony to instead seize the opportunity for greater integration with the mainland.
Zhang Dejiang -- the Communist Partys No. 3 official and the highest-ranking state leader to visit Hong Kong in four years -- made his remarks Wednesday at a banquet attended by top city government officials and business leaders. The speech offered a blunt assessment of recent efforts by some pro-democracy advocates who call themselves "localists" for greater autonomy, even independence, from the mainland.
"An extremely small number of people, reject the one country, reject the central government. This is not localism. This is using localisms name to do the deed of separatism," Zhang said at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. "Rocking the boat wont do any good for Hong Kong. It will only let years and months slip by and harm the economy and peoples livelihoods."
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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-18/china-leader-issues-warning-against-hong-kong-independence-push