HONG KONG, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A meeting was held at a barrack on Stonecutters Island Friday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) being stationed in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

An order conferring an honorary title on a special operations force under a brigade of the PLA Hong Kong Garrison, signed by Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was read at the meeting, and an honorary flag was bestowed.

Nearly 400 people including Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Tung Chee-hwa, HKSAR Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, and central and local government and military officials, legislators, political advisors and public figures were present at the meeting.

The PLA Hong Kong Garrison is responsible for the defense of Hong Kong since its return to the motherland in 1997.