This Sept 20, 2020, photo shows a general view of the Victoria harbour next to commercial and residential buildings in Hong Kong. (MAY JAMES / AFP)
With the National Security Law and the electoral reform in place, Hong Kong will rise again, embrace new opportunities and help the world to better understand the Chinese mainland, scholars and business leaders said on Monday in Hong Kong at the “International Communication in the New Era” forum.
“For seven months in 2019, I have never seen such violence in Hong Kong. I was born here and I grew up here,” Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hang Lung Properties, told the panel “Hong Kong in the Spotlight: Understanding a Multi-faceted City” while referring to the violent protests related to the extradition law amendment bill.
Chan said in the past year or so (after the implementation of the National Security Law), people have attempted to minimize some of the differences and have more balance in their lives.
He said that Hong Kong must be more economically integrated with the mainland, as there are many opportunities there, while the city also enjoys the “one country, two systems” policy.
The city has always been made up of expatriates, locals, people from the mainland and everywhere else. That’s given a flavor to Hong Kong, Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, said
He added that the last two years provided the city with an opportunity to rethink its economic future. This is the right moment for Hong Kong people to rethink and do the right thing for the city to thrive again, Chan said.
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Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, told the panel that Hong Kong has many different facets of life. The city has always been made up of expatriates, locals, people from the mainland and everywhere else. That’s given a flavor to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has gone through a transformation in the past 50 years.
“As the country has gone through (a) transformation, Hong Kong only gets stronger and stronger; it is able to reinvent itself. That’s always been the beauty of Hong Kong,” said Zeman.
Going forward with patriots in charge of Hong Kong, the new electoral system will only make the city stronger as the Legislative Council will be able to pass bills that make the lives of the people better, he said, adding that Hong Kong is so lucky that it is part of the most prosperous country in the world while enjoying “one country, two systems” with Chinese characteristics.
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C.K. Yeung, former associate vice-president of Hong Kong Baptist University, said in his keynote speech to the panel that never before in world history have 1.4 billion people and their government been so grossly misunderstood. He added that Hong Kong is the mostunderstood Chinese city in the West, as Western countries shaped Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has been shaped by Western values, attitudes, systems, and institutions, so it is the bestplaced city to explain the Chinese mainland to the West, he said.
British film director Malcolm Clarke said Hong Kong is very lucky to be a part of the country at this critical moment in history.
