China announced on Sunday (9) a change in command of the country’s military presence in Hong Kong. General Peng Jingtang, who headed the special counter-terrorism force in Xinjiang, a province where the regime led by Xi Jinping is accused of promoting a campaign of genocide, was chosen for the post.
Jingtang takes the place previously occupied by Chen Daoxiang, the general who led the PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army) repression of the pro-democracy protests that brought together tens of thousands of Hong Kong people in the streets in 2019.
The statement was read by local analysts as a strong demonstration of the military role that Beijing wants to play in the semi-autonomous territory. In addition to national defense, the regime increasingly aims to stifle uprisings in defense of democracy, classified by the Chinese Communist Party as incitement to terrorism.
General Jingtang served as deputy chief of the People’s Armed Police and also commanded the force in Xinjiang Territory. Three years ago, Reference News, an arm of the state-run Xinhua news agency, reported that an anti-terrorism force named Mountain Eagle Command had been created in the province, and Jingtang was named as the leader.
The announcement also comes on the heels of the National Security Law, a rule implemented by Beijing in Hong Kong in mid-2020 and which, among other things, criminalizes activities considered subversion and terrorism, as well as including the creation of new police units.
The new commander said he would work to “ensure national sovereignty, security and development interests in Hong Kong” and posed for photos with the territory’s chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng.
A source close to the Chinese regime, who declined to be named, told the South China Morning Post newspaper that Jingtang’s appointment is part of a leadership reorganization to mitigate local instability as the 20th Communist Party Congress approaches. Xi to a third presidential term after the country abolished re-election limits in 2018.
Beijing’s desire to maintain order in the face of Hong Kong’s chief executive elections in March also weighs heavily.
The first election held in the territory after the repression advanced gave an unfavorable demonstration to the communist regime: the vote for the Legislative Council, held in December, had one of the highest abstention rates since Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and was returned to the Chinese in 1997.
In Xinjiang, where General Jingtang served, China is internationally criticized for holding the Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim minority, in huge detention centers. In 2018, a UN team received reports that at least 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities were being held and said they had credible evidence. Another study, released in 2020, points to the existence of at least 380 detention camps.
Violence in the region has been listed by the US government as one of the factors in the diplomatic blockade at the Beijing Winter Olympics, scheduled for February. Australia, the UK and Canada also joined the boycott.
Some experts, for their part, point out that the general’s record in Xinjiang is not necessarily the biggest factor in the choice of his name, as Beijing has already established a national security office in Hong Kong to advise the local government on maintaining security. public order and that the People’s Liberation Army would be left with a secondary role.
According to the Basic Law, a kind of mini-constitution of Hong Kong, Beijing is responsible for defending the territory, while the local government is responsible for maintaining public order. The document says that the Chinese army must not interfere in local affairs, but that the administrative head can ask for help if necessary.
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