After 25 years, the Queen’s people in Hong Kong remember

Hong Kong residents queued for hours in hot weather outside the British consulate to offer condolences and tributes to the Queen, who ruled over the territory until 1997.

People lay flowers as a tribute to the Queen outside the British Consulate in Hong Kong on Monday. Picture: AFP

Hong Kong residents queued for hours in hot weather outside the British consulate to offer condolences and tributes to the Queen, who ruled over the territory until 1997.

Large crowds gathered in a sign of respect, despite a drive by the Chinese government to impose loyalty to Beijing.

One of those in the queue was Kate, who asked to be identified only by her first name, and who had waited three hours on a public holiday to sign the condolence book at the consulate.

She recalled the relatively easy-going days under British rule. “I suppose Hongkongers love (the Queen) because she never so demanded,” she said.

“I grew up in the 1980s and she (was) on the coins and stamps, and we got a day off on her birthday.”

Accompanied by her mother, who was born in 1952, the year the Queen ascended to the throne, Kate laid roses and left a message thanking the “boss lady”, as Elizabeth II is known in Hong Kong, for leading with grace and style.

Asked whether Hongkongers might have similar sentiments for President Xi Jinping’s government, she replied with an emoticon of being cold.

Since the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020, China has been accused of reneging on the “one country, two systems” policy agreed with Britain before the handover 25 years ago.

The national security law introduced two years ago punishes any acts of subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and local politicians are vetted for loyalty to Beijing.

Mr Xi has not said whether he will attend the Queen’s funeral, but chances are slim that he will travel to London.

It is possible that Wang Qishan, the Vice-President and a close ally of Mr Xi, might attend: on Monday, he signed a book of condolence at the British embassy in Beijing.

John Lee, the chief executive of Hong Kong’s pro-Chinese government, said he would send a representative to the city’s British consulate to offer his own condolences.

The Times