Hong Kong leader calls for unity with China

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hong Kong's leader called on the city to unite behind its current political system Saturday, October 1, in the face of increasing calls for independence from China, as protesters were bundled from the auditorium where he was speaking, AFP reports.

Leung Chun-ying was giving an annual address as part of National Day celebrations which mark the founding of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong in 1949, after communist forces won a civil war on the mainland.

Hong Kong is governed under a semi-autonomous "one country, two systems" arrangement -- a deal made when the city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

The agreement protects Hong Kong's freedoms for 50 years, but there are growing fears those liberties are being eroded by Beijing, leading to increasing tensions.

Leung described the system as the "most beneficial and most practical" for Hong Kong.

"One country, two systems needs each and every Hong Kong resident to defend it to their utmost," Leung said.

He also encouraged young Hong Kongers to visit China, saying there was "deep kinship" between the two sides.

A group of pro-democracy lawmakers interrupted the speech shouting: "CY step down!". Security escorted them from the hall at the harborfront convention center, with one district councilor carried out, AFP says.

Veteran Democratic Party legislator James To, among the protesters, said Leung had "caused divisions in the city and has made Hong Kongers feel they can't go on (with Leung in charge)".

Several new legislators who won seats in elections last month and are calling for self-determination and independence for Hong Kong boycotted the event.

Former protest leader Nathan Law, who at 23 is the youngest ever member of the Legislative Council, said he stayed away because of what he described as China's human rights violations.