Former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa speaks to the press during an interview on May 24, 2017. (Xinhua photo)
Hong Kong should be confident about its future – because of abundant
opportunities under “One Country, Two Systems” and the Chinese mainland’s robust
economy – said Tung Chee-hwa, the special administrative region’s first chief
executive.
Tung, now vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese
People’s Political Consultative Conference, said the central government had
stood by Hong Kong in tough times over the past two decades. Because of this,
the city was able to recover with the support of the nation.
In a joint
interview with Chinese-language newspapers in Hong Kong published on Friday,
Tung cited the example of the financial crises in 1997 and 2008, and the SARS
outbreak in 2003.
During the SARS crisis, the central government quickly
introduced the first free-trade agreement ever – the mainland and Hong Kong
Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) along with the Individual Visit
Scheme. The measures aimed to boost the city’s beleaguered economy after the
outbreak, explained Tung.
The future of Hong Kong depends on how the city
responds to the national economic momentum, said Tung. He was referring to such
projects as the Belt and Road Initiative and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater
Bay Area.
Elsie Leung Oi-sie, deputy director of the HKSAR Basic Law
Committee under the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, gave a
separate interview on the same day. Leung said China had resumed sovereignty
over Hong Kong in the full sense of that word.
She stressed that the central
government had overall jurisdiction over the SAR.
“The high-degree autonomy
promised by the central government is not equal to being ‘independent’,”
explained Leung.
The former justice secretary agreed there was a need for
more education about the Basic Law. Hong Kong society often lacked an open mind
to accept new things; Leung noted that even talking about the Basic Law might be
seen as brainwashing by some people.
She said teachers needed a good
comprehension of the Basic Law to ensure students understood it.
In another
interview, Zhang Junsheng, former deputy director of Xinhua News Agency’s Hong
Kong branch, criticized the advocacy of “independence” by some young people in
the SAR. Zhang said this was both ignorant and arrogant. They clearly didn’t
even understand history and other developments in society.
Zhang said there
were some people in Hong Kong who created these conflicts deliberately. They
aimed to mislead others and destabilize Hong Kong.
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