Xi Jinping on 3-day visit to Macau amid security lockdown
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the former Portuguese colony of Macau on Wednesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the now semi-autonomous city’s return to China.
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A security lockdown has been in force since Tuesday in what is the gambling capital of South China famous for its casinos.
The authorities have suspended the city’s railway service and tightened border security checks for travellers arriving by car or by ferry from Hong Kong, where at times violent pro-democracy protests have angered the leadership in Beijing.
Events will include the swearing-in of officials and a new administration led by Ho Iat-seng, former president of the city’s legislature.
The Government Information Bureau also announced that domestic and international flights to Macau international airport would be rescheduled to make way for activities or programmes relating to the celebrations.
According to the newspaper, the bureau has set up a press centre to cover the events, although a journalist working for Hong Kong’s English language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, was detained, questioned and refused entry to one of Macau’s ferry terminals on Tuesday on grounds of security.
The city can expect a slew of financial incentives aimed at diversifying its economy currently dependent on gambling which officials see as a reward for remaining protest-free.
Hong Kong’s beleaguered Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, who met Xi on Monday, has been tasked by Beijing with finding a speedy end to the protests.
Despite a landslide victory for the pro-democracy camp in the recent district council elections in Hong Kong last month, the protests look set to continue.
