Xi lays out compelling vision for HK’s future
President’s July 1 speech offers guidance for HKSAR on way forward
The keynote address of President Xi Jinping on the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s founding is of paramount theoretical and strategic significance and relevance to the continued success of “one country, two systems” and to Hong Kong’s long-term stability and prosperity.
The practice of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong over the past 25 years has proved a success despite variegated problems, occasional turbulence and some missteps. As an unprecedented innovation, the “good principle” has gained support from 1.4 billion Chinese people including Hong Kong and Macao residents, and the international community, and as Xi pointed out, should be adhered to “in the long run”.
The top leader has assured the world that even after the original notion of “Hong Kong’s capitalist system and way of life remaining unchanged for 50 years” expires in 2047, the central government will help Hong Kong to strengthen its unique capitalist system and its competitive advantages such as its international linkages and common law system.
These words from President Xi will certainly have the intended effect of strengthening the confidence in Hong Kong on the part of both the local residents and the international community.
To further sustain the success of “one country, two systems”, Xi said the prerequisite of “one country” must be firmly upheld. Only with this principle in place can the constitutional order made up of the nation’s constitution and the Basic Law be upheld, and the greater strength of the “two systems” be unleashed for the development of the SAR.
And, securing the SAR’s high degree of autonomy should go well with upholding the central government’s overall jurisdiction, through which the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong can be enhanced, the “executive-led” political system is consolidated, the industrial base is broadened, and the deep-seated contradictions and problems properly tackled.
Accordingly, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged all sectors of Hong Kong society to espouse the concepts of the country and seize the opportunities in the next five years, which are of critical importance as they represent the turning point in both Hong Kong’s development and the practice of “one country, two systems”.
Hong Kong, with the strong support of the central authorities, must make sure that it can lay a solid foundation for the long-term success of the principle and the SAR’s longterm prosperity and stability.
Compared with his address to the SAR in 2017, the admonitions of President Xi to the Hong Kong community and particularly to the HKSAR government this time are much more concrete and demanding.
His admonitions will naturally become the major criteria for evaluating the performance of the new HKSAR government by the central authorities.
President Xi especially expects the new HKSAR government to enhance its ability to govern, improve the way it governs, run Hong Kong in a proactive, farsighted and result-oriented manner, be able to overcome the resistance and obstruction of the vested interests, accelerate Hong Kong’s integration into the overall development of the motherland, and consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s uniqueness and competitiveness.
Also, the SAR is urged to better use the opportunities offered by the motherland’s development, create strong impetus for growth and broaden Hong Kong’s industrial base — particularly by building up innovative technology industries, push forward Hong Kong’s long-term and sustained development, resolve the deep-seated social and livelihood problems, and promote social harmony and stability.
As President Xi explicitly urged, the HKSAR government should elevate the concept of the nation, broaden its international vision, and be able to proactively plan Hong Kong’s development from the macroscopic and long-term perspective. It should further improve its governance, grasp well the relationship between the government and the market, and merge better an active government and an efficient market, so that, in Xi’s words, “a capable government serves an efficient market”.
In other words, the doctrines of “small government, great market” and “positive non-interventionism”, which are widely extolled within and without the government even today, are obsolete, and the freewheeling market cannot be expected to promote Hong Kong’s long-term development, build a fair and just society, or eradicate the factors of disorder and discontent in Hong Kong.
Instead, the HKSAR government should execute active and proactive governance and prioritize the interests of the people, particularly those of the underprivileged, so that everyone in Hong Kong can benefit from the city’s development and prosperity.
The president is especially concerned about the well-being of the young people of Hong Kong, and deliberately links the proper handling of the problem of the young people with the future development and stability of Hong Kong.
Undoubtedly, one of the major and urgent tasks of the SAR is to bring about a younger generation more satisfied with the motherland, the community, and themselves.
President Xi pledged that the central authorities will strongly support and empower the HKSAR government, particularly in helping it to overcome the obstacles and difficulties encountered in its pursuit of proactive and good governance, pointedly referring to the obstructions that might come from the powerful and intransigent vested interests and monopolies.
In general, when the original intentions of the “one country, two systems” principle are firmly fulfilled and comprehensively and accurately implemented, Hong Kong will enjoy the full and staunch support of the central authorities, the HKSAR government can deliver good and effective governance, and Hong Kong’s bright future and long-term prosperity would be assured.