Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Hong Kong to install a new but already unpopular governor of the semiautonomous Chinese territory.

It’s an event that is becoming a magnet for public disaffection about Hong Kong’s widening rich-poor gap and lack of democracy.

Large-scale protests are planned for Sunday’s swearing-in of Leung Chun-ying. His popularity has tumbled since he was chosen in March because of a scandal over illegal additions to his mansion and persistent fears that he’s an underground Communist Party member.

Security was extremely tight on Friday as Hu arrived to oversee the ceremony and mark the 15th anniversary since China resumed control of the former British colony, promising to retain its freewheeling, capitalist ways.