• China’s ruling Communist Party celebrated its 73rd anniversary in power under strict anti-virus controls.
• A 96-person honour guard raised the Chinese flag on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
• Authorities asked people not to travel on holidays, so there were no parades or other public events.

Hong Kong’s leader promised to get the struggling economy back on track after a campaign to stop a pro-democracy movement. At the same time, China’s ruling Communist Party celebrated its 73rd anniversary in power under strict anti-virus controls.

In Beijing, a 96-person honour guard raised the Chinese flag on Tiananmen Square, which is in the centre of the city. Huge crowds of people watched this. Authorities asked people not to travel on holidays, so there were no parades or other public events.

National Day is a celebration of when Mao Zedong started the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949, after a civil war. The Nationalist Party, which used to run the mainland, moved to Taiwan, which is now a self-ruled democracy.

In a speech, Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, said that COVID-19 “still hangs over” the city of more than seven million people. He promised to get the struggling economy back on track and “protect people’s way of life” as restrictions on travel and other anti-virus measures are lifted.

Mr. Lee became president in July. He is a former police chief who oversaw a crackdown that put pro-democracy activists in jail, shut down a major newspaper, and caused people to leave for Britain, the US, and Taiwan.

“Hong Kong is now going through the important change from stability to prosperity,” said Mr. Lee at a downtown convention centre. He was wearing a red mask like the Chinese flag and was surrounded by other people wearing masks. “You should have the same faith in Hong Kong’s future as I do,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee used the slogan “patriots running Hong Kong” to talk about how the government was trying to stop pro-democracy activists from getting public jobs. He said that President Xi Jinping’s speech during a visit on July 1 would be the “blueprint” for how his government would run.

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