In Hong Kong, Xi Jinping Takes a Page From Vladimir Putin’s Playbook
Some worry that the parallels with Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine mean a much more assertive China is emerging.
Chinese President Xi Jinping presses the green button as he votes during the closing session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 28.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Shortly after China confirmed it would bypass Hong Kong’s legislature to impose new security legislation, the media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai tweeted that his home, a former British colony straining to avoid the heavy hand of mainland rule, had become “like Berlin of the last Cold War.” Unfortunately for Lai and other liberals in the territory, he’s probably wrong about that. If there is a parallel to draw, it may well be with Russia’s more recent decision to annex Crimea from Ukraine.
As with President Vladimir Putin’s démarche, made during a period of political upheaval in Kiev and with the 2014 Winter Olympics still under way nearby in Sochi, President Xi Jinping’s move was both opportunistic in its timing and strategic in its goal. Hong Kong’s formidable pro-democracy protesters were further weakened by Covid-19, reducing the risk of mass opposition to a move that would bring China’s full unification under Beijing’s control a step closer. And like Putin, Xi took that decision knowing that it might poison relations with the West for years. The actual text of the security law has yet to be drafted. Officials have sought to reassure the business community that Hong Kong would retain its freedoms, and softer wording could minimize objections from abroad. But as Chinese diplomats troll the U.S. over its race riots, Xi no longer appears to greatly care.