To the point
Pragmatism has once again proved its practicability and usefulness. When Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was awarded Hong Kong’s top position nearly a year ago, she was hard-pressed by members of the opposition camp to restart the electoral-reform process for implementation of universal suffrage in the special administrative region. Yet she has insisted on making economic development and livelihood improvement the top policy priorities of the new administration.
This was because she was fully aware political debates would only further polarize Hong Kong society, which had bitterly split up over the failed electoral reform in 2015. She was also adamant that many deep-seated social problems that had plagued Hong Kong society and stoked social discontent and political bickering could only be solved by further developing and diversifying the city’s economy.
Now with Lam just one year into the job, it might be too early to have a full evaluation of her performance and that of her governing team. But what the SAR government has done or achieved under her leadership over the past year has won not only recognition from the public in Hong Kong but also the central government in Beijing. These include efforts to cope with the city’s severe housing shortage, measures to alleviate poverty and moves to co-opt more young people into the government and statutory bodies, as well as policies and steps to promote innovation and technology development in the city. Like any other long-term policy, these government initiatives or measures need time to produce results and prove their effectiveness. Nonetheless, they have been widely recognized by members of Hong Kong society, who are upright and share Lam’s pragmatism.
In his meeting with Lam and other visiting Hong Kong officials in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, Vice-Premier Han Zheng highly commended the Hong Kong SAR’s governing team for having administered the city in accordance with the law and taking a series of measures to promote economic development and improve Hong Kong people’s livelihood. The remarks of the State leader, who is in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs as well as Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, reflected the central government’s appreciation for Lam’s work.
Han also noted President Xi Jinping had attached great importance to the development of Hong Kong and Macao and repeatedly emphasized the need to administer the two SARs according to the nation’s Constitution and their basic laws. This is understandable, since Hong Kong — as the nation’s only international financial center — is to play a crucial role in the development of the Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, both of which are integral parts of national development and rejuvenation.