Hopes that Hong Kong would one day transform China in its own image now seem foolish and futile. Beijing appears intent on making the former British colony look more like the mainland — with a closed political system dominated by the Communist Party. For Chinese President Xi Jinping, however, the future may look a lot more like Hong Kong’s present than he’d like to admit.
Mainland leaders have downplayed hopes of any concessions in talks between student leaders and government officials in Hong Kong, which are scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Any sign of weakness, they fear, will have a spillover effect in China itself, encouraging citizens to take to the streets with their own political demands.
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