Tsang vows to unite HK, create a ‘quality city’
Chief Executive aspirant John Tsang Chun-wah pledged on Monday to restore unity in society and create a favorable environment for people and enterprises to develop if elected, making Hong Kong a “quality city” with “quality life”.
He pointed out it’s imperative to further combine the nation’s advancement and Hong Kong’s diversity and unique characteristics under “One Country, Two Systems” by bringing their potentials into full play.
The former financial secretary also pushed forward a tax reform proposal. He vowed to introduce a progressive profit tax to lighten the burden on small- and medium- sized enterprises, and conduct research on the feasibility of a negative income tax — an allowance offer to underprivileged people whose incomes fall below a certain level.
Tsang made the pledges in revealing his election manifesto — a 73-page document covering a wide range of policy areas, including governance, constitutional reform, government restructuring, economy and finance, housing and lands, education, elderly services, culture and sport, retirement protection and welfare.
He set unity as the top priority in his principle of governance. “Without unity of the people, there’s no way we can achieve good governance.”
On governance, Tsang vowed to solicit views, enlist talents and widely consult the public. He also proposed extending Sections 3 and 8 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance to cover the CE.
He hoped his platform will win over many Election Committee members from across the political spectrum, and that all of them could make up their minds after having scrutinized the manifestos of all the other contenders in the CE race.
He pledged that, if elected, he would communicate with people from all walks of life and report truthfully to the central authorities after getting a consensus.
He also stressed it’s the city’s constitutional duty to introduce the national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law. Despite the government’s failure to enact the law in 2003, Tsang said the procedure can be handled in a better and more transparent way, and he will conduct public consultations on the matter according to his campaign platform.
Tsang further touched on the possibility of restarting the electoral reform aborted in 2014 to work for universal suffrage for the CE election. He said he will aim to find common ground, build a consensus and truly reflect Hong Kong’s views to the central government, creating a favorable environment for the reform process.
He hoped both the electoral reform and Article 23 legislation can be achieved before 2020 — the end of the current term of the incumbent Legislative Council.