Tokyo | Xi Jinping has vowed to retain Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” model as he defended his security crackdown on the former British colony and swore in the city’s new leader at a ceremony commemorating 25 years of Chinese rule.

“The city cannot afford to descend into chaos,” China’s president said on Friday during a rare visit to Hong Kong in a veiled reference to pro-democracy protests which disrupted life in the city for six months in 2019.