HONG KONG (AP) — It wasn't just the dark-suited delegates in Beijing who were listening intently last week as Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined his grand ambitions to launch a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress. On China's peripheries there was apprehension and optimism as Xi, China's strongest leader in decades, reasserted his authority over semiautonomous Hong Kong and self-governing Taiwan. Xi declared that Hong Kong, where residents are increasingly divided over Beijing's rule of the former British colony, and Taiwan, where voters elected an independence-leaning president last year amid rising alienation from the mainland, are part of a "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" led by the Communist Party. Here's a look at what people on the two islands told The Associated Press about the party congress: ___ THE ANXIOUS BUSINESSMAN Businessman Ringo Lee believes President Xi Jinping must talk with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen to encourage better ties across the Taiwan Strait. Companies like his travel agency depend on it.Read more on NewsOK.com