This screengrab taken form a speech video of Jason Lee Kwong-yee, the executive director of Dah Hwa International (Holdings) Limited, shows Lee speaking at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council as a youth representative from Hong Kong via video link.

Now that normal travel has resumed and anti-pandemic curbs have been lifted, Hong Kong — which also recently launched a high-profile promotional campaign — is back on the world stage and welcomes visitors from around the world to explore its charms, a youth representative from the city told a meeting of the United Nations on Wednesday.

As the pandemic has now waned and the government has lifted most of its anti-pandemic restrictions, Hong Kong has reconnected with the world and everyone can freely travel to the city, said Jason Lee Kwong-yee, executive vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Youth Association

Delivering a speech at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Jason Lee Kwong-yee, executive vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Youth Association, who is also the executive director of Dah Hwa International (Holdings) Limited, said that — like many other pandemic-hit industries — his business experienced hardships over the past three years.

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Saying that his family has been running a trading business in the city for over eight decades, Lee said: “We appreciate Hong Kong for the freedom, opportunities, diversity and stability that it has offered.”

“What I had experienced was perhaps reflective of how Hong Kong, an economy that is so externally oriented, suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

As the pandemic has now waned and the government has lifted most of its anti-pandemic restrictions, he said he is excited to see that the city has reconnected with the world and everyone can freely travel to the city.

Lee said that the city remains as free, diverse, and vibrant as it always was. Under the protection of the National Security Law, it has also become safer and more stable.

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“People question whether Hong Kong is still the same Hong Kong. I would say our city is as free as always. Yes, it has changed, but only for the better,” Lee said.

He also highlighted the “Hello, Hong Kong” campaign, launched by the city to promote its latest developments on the global stage. He said he is looking forward to seeing tourists from all over the world coming to the city to experience Hong Kong first-hand.

Lee was the third young representative from Hong Kong to speak at the 52nd session of the council. Gary Wong Chi-him, a board member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, and Alex Yeung Ching-loong, chairman of the Hong Kong United Youth Association, each respectively delivered a video-recorded speech on March 7 and 17.