HK marches ahead with prosperity and stability
National Security Law, new electoral system point way forward for city
Nearly 10 years ago, Sze Chi-king, a middle-aged Hong Kong teacher, faced a class of 32 pupils and their curious parents as 40 cameras focused on his every movement, even involuntary facial expressions.
The pupils were attending the first Moral and National Education, or MNE, class held in the city, in October 2012.
Just days earlier, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced it was shelving the planned MNE curriculum after it met with strong opposition.
However, Sze, who was deputy principal of Fresh Fish Traders’ School in Kowloon, decided to introduce national education into his school’s syllabus.
He thought that the city’s widely recognized education system based on performance needed to be improved to help the younger generation learn about their origin and identities.
For the first lesson, he spoke about the national flag and national anthem.
“I told my students we should respect the national flags of all countries. The Chinese national flag is a symbol of our nation and our history, and we should always respect it,” Sze said.
Sze remained committed to the cause, even in 2019, when Hong Kong was embroiled in anti-government protests that later developed into street violence and vandalism.
Business in the city came to a halt, along with school classes. Among the residents arrested, more than 40 percent were students — half of them attending secondary schools, and the remainder at universities and colleges.
Sze said: “What happened in 2019 was a wake-up call for me. Teaching is more than merely concentrating on what is in textbooks — it should be value-centered.”
He said the social unrest reinforced his original aim to introduce national education at his school.
After the unrest, Sze renewed the curriculum, placing the emphasis on topics related to national security and the Basic Law, the constitutional document for the HKSAR.
To make learning more fun, he named 12 senior students as “ambassadors” for the Basic Law. The school also held events such as China Week, which featured a quiz with prizes and also games in which fun facts about the nation were presented to students.
The social unrest in 2019 not only served as a wake-up call to Sze, but also for other patriots in the city and the authorities.
After months of disorder on the city’s streets, on Nov 5, 2019, President Xi Jinping told the then Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor that ending the violence and restoring law and order was the most important task for Hong Kong.
In a speech to usher in 2020, which was broadcast nationwide, Xi said: “In recent months, we have been concerned with the situation in Hong Kong. Without a harmonious and stable environment, how can people live in peace and enjoy their work? I sincerely wish Hong Kong well and our Hong Kong compatriots well. A stable and prosperous Hong Kong is the wish of Hong Kong compatriots and the expectations of our motherland.”
On June 30, 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislature, adopted the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR, putting an end to the prolonged chaos and allowing the city to quickly regain law and order.
On March 30 last year, the NPC, in a unanimous vote, approved amending and improving the city’s electoral system, aiming to keep administering power in Hong Kong firmly in the hands of patriots.
Safety valve
Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said the central government’s initiatives to introduce the National Security Law and improve the city’s electoral system have returned Hong Kong to the right track of “one country, two systems”.
He said the central government has exercised overall jurisdiction with caution and prudence since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland in 1997. It had to step in when the practice of “one country, two systems” was plunged into its biggest-ever crisis in 2019.
Lau described the implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle over the past 25 years as a general success. But he said that with the aid of foreign forces, anti-China troublemakers went to extreme lengths, taking advantage of a flawed political system that didn’t fully implement the “patriots administering Hong Kong” principle.
The inclusion of troublemakers in the city’s governing team also led to problems such as failure to achieve effective governance, and the absence of a national identity among young people came to a head in 2019, threatening the city’s political stability.
When the “one country, two systems” principle was drawn up, the central government’s overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong translated into “one country”, stemming from its sovereignty over the city, Lau said.
He added that the high degree of autonomy conferred on Hong Kong by the central government under “one country, two systems” means the city is entitled to part of this autonomy, not all of it, and the central government still holds the right of overall jurisdiction.
In a speech marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China on July 1 last year, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, stressed the duty that Hong Kong and Macao have to safeguard national security, while emphasizing that the central government exercises overall jurisdiction over the two cities.
Lau said that events in 2019 proved that such a course of action was not only necessary, but a wise one with foresight.
Since Xi took office in 2012, while doubling down on efforts to get the city back on the right track, the central government has enhanced its support for Hong Kong.
In October 2017, upholding the principle of “one country, two systems” was incorporated in the report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC as part of the basic policy to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
Xi, in a meeting with Lam, the then chief executive, two months later said the report points the way for Hong Kong to become integrated in the nation’s overall development.
Pat on shoulder
In 2017, to mark the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, Xi made a three-day inspection tour of the city, and met with young Junior Police Call members at their center at Yuen Long. The meeting prompted 22 members of the group to send Xi a handmade new year greetings card, to which Xi replied in February 2018, encouraging the young people to serve the city and the country with their actions.
The pat on the shoulder for these young people served as inspiration. Kwok Wang-hei, who was 11 at the time, still remembers the warmth of Xi’s smile and his firm handshake.
Following Xi’s advice to broaden his horizons, Kwok applied for study tours to Sichuan, where he was surprised by the rapid development in the province, including its high-technology, e-payments and high-speed railways.
Eric Kuo Wai-keung also set about meeting Xi’s expectations for young people by traveling to neighboring Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in 2017 to find engineers for smart suitcase products he had developed.
He incubated his startup in the city’s Qianhai Pilot Free Trade Zone.
In Hong Kong, Kuo founded his company R-Guardian, later expanding its product portfolio to smart items such as handbags, backpacks, umbrellas and a tracking watch to locate missing children and the elderly.
Five years on, Kuo is convinced he made the right call, as his company has received three rounds of financing totaling more than 20 million yuan ($2.98 million). It is now valued at over 100 million yuan.
Kuo’s dazzling success stems from the right call to orchestrate the roles of cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, or GBA, into a closely-knit team.
His achievements are also testimony to the synergy among GBA cities. After coming up with the idea for his company’s flagship product — a smart suitcase with global tracking and digital lock — Kuo completed the research and development for it in Hong Kong.
However, Hong Kong lacked experienced engineers to realize this project, bringing Shenzhen into play. The prototype for the suitcase was developed in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, after the engineers in Shenzhen completed their work.
Teams in the Guangdong cities of Dongguan and Huizhou then took over, with Dongguan responsible for electrical work and Huizhou acting as production base for the project. Marketing and sales are carried out in Hong Kong.
Kuo said: “This is a full industrial chain, with nothing being done by one city alone. It is teamwork.”
Another key ingredient of Kuo’s recipe for success is the all-around support he has received from the central authorities and Shenzhen government.
In addition to an apartment and a rebate for renting an office, Kuo has received seed funding of 2 million to 3 million yuan over the past five years.
In the past two years, young people in Hong Kong have enjoyed equal rights regarding social security, Kuo said. Young entrepreneurs from the city and Macao can also take out loans for startups without their credit being checked, with the Shenzhen authorities simply referring to the applicants’ Hong Kong and Macao identity cards.
“The message I have gained from my endeavors on the mainland is that the nation has counted Hong Kong in all along,” Kuo said, adding that young people from the city can give full play to their strengths by aligning their careers with the Greater Bay Area or the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).
“It’s like playing in a soccer match. Everyone has their roles in the team, but you have to move around and cooperate with your teammates. Waiting for the ball to be passed to you is not going to give you the chance to score,” Kuo said.
“The game is not over and we still have much to offer.”
New chapter
With the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, and the successful election of a new chief executive, Hong Kong is poised to move forward and usher in a new chapter.
Kuo said a stable business environment is crucial to an entrepreneur, which is why the economy and livelihoods in Hong Kong have improved since the National Security Law for Hong Kong was introduced.
Since this law took effect on June 30, 2020, the total number of arson, criminal damage, and wounding and serious assault cases has fallen from 6,118 in the first half of 2020 to 5,350 in the second half of that year and 4,886 in the second half of last year, according to Hong Kong police.
Funds raised on the city’s stock market rose from HK$137.2 billion ($17.5 billion) in the second quarter of 2020 to HK$246.8 billion the following quarter.
Meanwhile, inbound direct investment flowed into the city following the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong. In 2020, this investment reached HK$134.7 billion, up from HK$73.7 billion in 2019, when street violence hit Hong Kong.
Kuo is now in the fifth year of a quest to fulfill his business dream in the GBA. For Sze, the school principal, it is more than 10 years since he began his ongoing mission to bring the right knowledge and the nation’s values to Hong Kong’s younger generation.
The city, as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland, is charting its course for the future and ensuring that the practice of the “one country, two systems” principle remains on the right track.