What's Xi's Response to Hong Kong?

What instructions will Xi Jinping give to Carrie Lam this time around?

All eyes are on Beijing these few days as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor arrived in the Chinese capital for her regular duty visit to report back to the senior leadership.

Carrie Lam arriving in Beijing today for meetings

This evening she had dinner with Vice-Premier Han Zheng, the state leader overseeing Hong Kong and Macau affairs. Zhang Xiaoming, head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office was to attend the dinner too. Any guesses on what was discussed?

She will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang on Monday, and again what will she say, and how will they advise her on how to proceed?

According to a report by Reuters, back in August Lam tried to persuade senior leaders to meet some of the protesters' demands to diffuse the political crisis, but it seems that suggestion was not accepted. Further reports on the story were deemed "fake" by a state-run newspaper.

Excited voters on hearing results of the District Elections

And now following the results of the District Council elections, where 17 of the 18 districts were swept by pro-democracy candidates, what will Beijing do now, not only to win the hearts and minds of voters, but also to rebuild relationships with pro-Beijing politicians?

This is certainly territory China has never gone through before, but at the same time it cannot ignore the results. It was a clear referendum on the government's handling of the protests and by extension Beijing.

So now the ball is in Xi's court. How will he play it?

Will he continue his hard line stance or will Xi finally concede and allow an independent inquiry into the police force's handling of the six-month long protests?

Hong Kong has turned very yellow since November 24

And will Lam be CE for much longer? There is talk of not only removing her, but also shuffling the cabinet which definitely needs a shake up. These government officials are living in a parallel universe with no empathy or understanding of what is going on in Hong Kong for the past half year.

The people have spoken. A response is long overdue.