Hong Kong 'should continue to be free and open': Japan tells China

Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe told the Chinese President Xi Jinping on December 23 that Hong Kong should 'continue to remain free and open'. As Hong Kong is rocked by several months of pro-democracy unrest, Abe met with Xi in Beijing ahead of flying to the southwestern city of Chengdu to attend a trilateral meeting on December 24 which will be joined by South Korean President Moon Jai-in. 

In a press briefing after the meeting between two leaders, the spokesperson of Japanese PM, Otaka Masato said that Abe has urged China to continue its 'self-restraint' over the former British colony and expressed his 'hope for an early resolution of the situation'.

Another topic of discussion in the Xi-Abe meet was the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and North Korea. Masato said that Xi 'asked for support' for a joint China-Russia draft United Nations resolution which proposed the easing of sanctions against the nuclear-armed state. 

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Abe raised multiple issues

Abe reportedly reiterated that he is 'very much concerned' about the unrest in Hong Kong and mentioned that under the 'one country, two systems', the city must continue to be free and 'able to enjoy its development'. Beijing currently runs Hong Kong in a model that allows the financial hub key freedoms which are otherwise denied to the people in the Chinese mainland.

The citizens of Hong Kong fear an increasing assertiveness from China and that it is eroding the freedom which was initially promised. However, according to Masato, Xi responded to Abe's concerns by repeating China's positing that Hong Kong 'is a domestic matter'. 

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The Japanese PM pressed Xi on human rights in Xinjiang and said that 'he hopes to see the Chinese government explain itself with transparency regarding the situation'. Beijing has faced international criticism for detaining nearly one million Uighurs and mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang's northwest region. With respect to the North Korea sanctions, Tokyo feels it is 'too soon' to lift sanctions from Pyongyang. 

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(With agency inputs)