State leaders promise full support for HK
President, premier praise Lam, Yang Sheng notes, and urge greater involvement in national projects as city’s traditional intermediary role diminishes
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who was in Beijing last week for her annual duty visit, met with President Xi Jinping on Friday afternoon after meeting with Premier Li Keqiang in the morning. She briefed the State leaders on the work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government this year and was congratulated for a job well done. On behalf of the State Council Li gave the HKSAR Government the seal of approval and encouraged it to play a more proactive role in development of the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Belt and Road Initiative.
The fifth-term SAR government, led by Lam, has been in office for just six months so far but, President Xi noted, it has won strong public support for focusing on economic development and improving people’s well-being with tailor-made policy measures to address some of the most difficult issues facing Hong Kong society. He also reaffirmed the central government’s full support of Hong Kong for upholding the nation’s Constitution and the city’s Basic Law while integrating its own development with that of the country. His words mean Hong Kong society can rest-assured the central government and mainland compatriots will help the SAR whenever and however necessary.
In his meeting with Lam, Li said he is pleased to see the SAR government’s performance under her leadership and hoped the city will make full use of its unique strengths in playing a more proactive role in the Greater Bay Area development as well as the Belt and Road Initiative. It is safe to say the central authorities have confidence in Lam’s ability to lead the HKSAR Government in advancing on the right track.
This was not only Lam’s first duty visit in Beijing as chief executive but also took place on the heels of the historic 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which set the tone for even greater progress of the Chinese nation in coming years. Hong Kong has played the unique role of an intermediary between the Chinese mainland and outside world very well in past four decades or so since the nation’s reform and opening-up drive began. However, after 40 years of monumental achievements in all-round development, the pursuit for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered a new era and the role of an intermediary is apparently not as important as it used to be. That means it is high time Hong Kong assumed a greater role in the country going forward.
Hong Kong businesses were pioneers in bringing investment as well as modern technology and management to the mainland in the early years of reform and opening-up, before the city’s role as an intermediary grew more prominent. It is fair to say Hong Kong jump-started industrialization of the Pearl River Delta region, which spearheaded the mainland’s transition into the world’s largest manufacturing base of consumer products, hence the nickname “the world’s factory” .
Today, some 40 years later, a switch to high-value business means many of the small factories have closed for good or moved further north or northwest from the Pearl River Delta area in Guangdong. The mainland is still “the world’s factory” but at a more advanced level thanks to the central government’s emphasis on innovation and high-tech development. That is where Hong Kong can find a new role for itself — a regional center for high-tech innovation and industrial-artistic design drawing on its sizeable capital and talent pool, in addition to its traditional role of international trade and logistics hub, financial center, professional services base and tourist destination.
Hong Kong needs these new growth engines to sustain healthy economic development but must maintain political stability and social harmony first. To do so it must build consensus on top priorities in the years to come. More important is to ensure the “one country, two systems” principle is fully and accurately implemented according to the nation’s Constitution and Hong Kong’s Basic Law at all times, as Xi reiterated in his meeting with Lam on Friday. With hostile forces in and outside Hong Kong going all-out to disrupt and obstruct the lawful administration of the SAR government as well as the central government’s overall jurisdiction over the HKSAR, no effort should be spared to maintain rule of law in Hong Kong or bring the Legislative Council back on the right track. LegCo’s successful move to amend its Rules of Procedure to restrain wanton filibustering antics in the chamber is a step in the right direction.