"There was certainly foreign interference in Hong Kong. There were so much evidence of that," Piet Steel, Chairman of Special Olympics Belgium, former Ambassador of Belgium to Vietnam, and former Consul General of Belgium in China's Hong Kong said in a video conference held by the Portugal's Belt & Road Think Tank in Lisbon, capital of Portugal on April 30th.

"At the same time, I feel there was certainly foreign interference in Hong Kong. There were so much evidence of that. Of course, they didn't intervene militarily, the Chinese government or the Chinese military. They intervened by giving the Hong Kong government the means to control the city again, and to bring peace and security. And that's why this Security Law was adopted," Piet Steel said.

In the meantime, Piet Steel felt anxious and sad about some Hong Kong youth participating in violent, illegal activities.

Piet Steel also pointed out that according to his personal experience and long-term observation, the HKSAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy and its residents enjoy broad range of democratic rights and freedom. He believes that the world should see the truth; that Hong Kong belongs to China, and Hong Kong still plays a unique role in China's reform and opening up as well as economic development.

Piet Steel was the Consul General of Belgium in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1997. He has first-hand experience of the enactment of Hong Kong's Basic Law and Hong Kong's return to China. After that, he has also been the Honorary Chairman of the Belgium Hong Kong Society for a long time.

At the video conference, Steel shared his life experiences in both Hong Kong and Macao, and he believes the "One Country, Two Systems" principle will prove workable in Hong Kong, as it has proved workable and popular in the Macao.

Steel also said that Hong Kong's prosperity and stability cannot be divorced from the support from Chinese mainland, and the in-depth, win-win cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen exemplifies that. "I have confidence in the future of Hong Kong," he said.

Authors: Chen Yu, Monica Liu, Li Danfeng (intern)

Editors: Nan Hu, Jerry Grey