‘One country, two systems’ will be integrated into GBA development

The Outline Development Plan for the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area promulgated by the State Council on Monday understandably attracted public attention and has aroused heated discussion. To satisfy the public’s thirst for more details on the mega project, the three regional governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao jointly organized a symposium in Hong Kong on Thursday. In her opening speech delivered in the forum, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor put much emphasis on why Hong Kong should proactively participate in the Bay Area development and how Hong Kong can take part in the project. But the most important message the chief executive tried to deliver to the public is that the Bay Area plan is a further step forward in enriching the practice of “one country, two systems”.

While the public has showed great interest in and expressed high expectations for the city cluster development since the release of the outline development plan, there have also been suggestions that “one country, two systems” might be somewhat undermined. Therefore, it is vital to explain to the public and make sure they have a correct understanding of the plan. The relationship between “one country, two systems” and the Bay Area plan can be explored in two dimensions.

The first concerns the role of Hong Kong in the Bay Area’s outline development plan. The plan divides the 11 member cities into two tiers, with the top tier consisting of Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Let’s ask ourselves an important question: What makes Hong Kong qualified to be one of the four dragons in the Bay Area? This is not hard to answer: The city has an excellent geographic location, a free and open market, low and simple taxation, an international reputation and is globally competitive. However, the real and unique factor behind all these advantages is “one country, two systems”. Under this principle, Hong Kong can make full use of this unique system and do what the other member cities cannot do. Realizing the significance The author is research officer of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute. of the “one country, two systems”, there is no reason whatsoever for the SAR government to do anything that will undermine the city’s advantage.

The second dimension concerns the goal of the Bay Area plan. According to the outline plan, the development of the city cluster aims to promote coordinated economic growth in the region, develop an international first-class bay area for living, working and traveling by leveraging the complementary advantages of the partner cities, and further enhancing the Bay Area’s support and leading role in the country’s economic development and opening-up. The vision of the Bay Area cannot be realized without the institutional advantages brought by “one country, two systems”. Thanks to this political arrangement, the Bay Area enjoys multi-strengths from different systems, which make it much more competitive vis-a-vis other bay areas in the world. Frankly speaking, the competitiveness of the Bay Area would be much weaker if there was only one system in the region. Hence, “one country, two systems” is not just Hong Kong’s key advantage, it is also the foundation for the internationalization of the Bay Area. It is vital to the success of the Bay Area as a national strategy. Therefore, there is absolutely no reason for the central government to do anything that would undermine the “one country, two systems”.

Consolidating and strengthening financial services, fostering aviation development and developing an international innovation and technology hub are undoubtedly among the major tasks Hong Kong must do in the implementation of the Bay Area project. However, the more crucial theme is further development of the “one country, two systems” principle. In the past two decades, or the initial stage of the implementation of “one country, two systems”, ensuring a peaceful transition is the main theme. In the coming stage, enhancing collaboration among the different systems while strengthening their unique advantages is the main theme. The Bay Area is the best platform to put the idea into practice.

It is understandable that the public concern about the role of “one country, two systems” in the Bay Area project. As President Xi Jinping said, the Bay Area is to be developed under the conditions of “one country, two systems”, three customs territories and three currencies; this is an unprecedented endeavor in human history. Notwithstanding the anticipated challenges ahead, Hong Kong people should have full confidence in the advantages of “one country, two systems”. They should take an active role in the city cluster project to make it a great success for everyone.

Napoleon Hill, who is notable for writing books on “success”, shared his wisdom: “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” We should help make the Bay Area a great success by leveraging the advantages of “one country, two systems”. With the “one country, two systems” political arrangement already having proven its benefits and advantages, Hong Kong people should be confident about its future.