Beijing Offers Support, Greater Bay Boost To HK

Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday offered the Hong Kong and Macau administrations the full support of the central government, saying Beijing will support them in “seizing the opportunities” from the Belt and Road strategy and the Greater Bay Area development plan.

“The governments and chief executives of the two regions have our full support. We’ll support the two regions in seizing the opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiatives and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area strategy, giving better play to their strength and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with the mainland in all fields,” Li told the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress (NPC).

He added that the central government would ensure that Greater Bay Area initiatives are compatible with the rules of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong.

Li also said Beijing will uphold the principles of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong, and the SAR enjoying a high degree of autonomy. These phrases were omitted from his report last year, raising some eyebrows.

“We’ll continue fully and faithfully to implement the policies of one country, two systems, the people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong, the people of Macau governing Macau, and a high degree of autonomy for both regions, and act in compliance with the constitution and the basic laws of Hong Kong and the Macau special administrative regions,” Li said.

There was no mention of political reform for Hong Kong in his report. But Hong Kong deputy, Raymond Tam, formerly Hong Kong’s constitutional and mainland affairs secretary, said people shouldn’t be too worried about this omission.

“Unfortunately, a few years ago, the proposal by the government to put forward, or to take forward, a 'one man, one vote' election for the chief executive got a setback because we didn’t get the [Legislative Council’s] approval,” he said.

“So I think we have to wait for an appropriate opportunity for the CE and SAR government to restart or to reactivate the constitutional reform,” he added.

He told RTHK's Candice Wong said that at the moment the main focus would be the economic development of Hong Kong.

Another Hong Kong deputy to the congress, Wong Yuk-Shan, said he didn’t find it surprising that the wording of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong” and that the SAR enjoys “a high degree of autonomy” came back again in the premier’s work report.

"This is a regular situation to remind and reassure [that] Hong Kong is ruled under the Basic Law and also ruled under the constitution of China. So we will continue one country, two systems in future," he said.

The lone Hong Kong member on the congress’ standing committee, Tam Yiu-Chung, said that he finds the coverage of Hong Kong in the report to be comprehensive.