China state museum opens in Hong Kong amid patriotism drive

3/7/2022 19:00

        China's famed Palace Museum opened a branch in Hong Kong Sunday amid a drive to build loyalty to Beijing in the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule 25 years ago.
        
        Works of calligraphy and paintings on silk dating back more than 1,000 years featured heavily in the exhibition, housed in a seven-story building in a newly developed harborside arts district.
        
        The delicate artworks will be returned to Beijing for safekeeping after 30 days, but China's Communist Party leaders want the exhibition's cultural and political impact to linger for far longer.
        
        The opening of the exhibition came just two days after China's leader Xi Jinping marked the anniversary of Hong Kong's return with a visit to what is officially called the special autonomous region and a speech emphasizing Beijing's control under its vision of "one country, two systems."