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Saturday, June 24, 2017, 10:10
Tung explains why HK people should be upbeat about future
By Shadow Li in Hong Kong
Saturday, June 24, 2017, 10:10 By Shadow Li in Hong Kong

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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