A senior official in charge of Hong Kong affairs in the Chinese government visited the Legislative Council, which is the legislature of Hong Kong, for the first time on the 16th, and said that "opposition is not democracy," and reiterated its stance of thoroughly cracking down on moves critical of the Chinese government, bearing in mind the large-scale protests that occurred four years ago.
Xia Baolong, head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in charge of Hong Kong affairs in the Chinese government, visited the Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Hong Kong, on the 16th.
According to Hong Kong media, Xia addressed more than 80 lawmakers and said, "Dissiding is not democracy, and we must never again allow the situation that has caused chaos in the Legislative Council over the past few years to happen," justifying the changes to the electoral system that led to the removal of pro-democracy opponents of the government.
He then stated, "Protests are not the only way to express opinions," and reiterated his stance of thoroughly cracking down on movements critical of the Chinese government, bearing in mind the large-scale protests that occurred in 2019.
The Legislative Council said it was the first time a senior Chinese government official has visited the site, where some young people were forcibly removed by police after they burst into the protests.
In Hong Kong, the electoral system has been changed under the leadership of the Chinese government, which advocates "patriot rule," and the pro-democracy faction has not been able to gain seats, and the pro-China faction has almost monopolized it.