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Friday, September 06, 2019, 00:35
Govt launches ad campaign to reassure world
By Chen Zimo in Hong Kong
Friday, September 06, 2019, 00:35 By Chen Zimo in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government took out a full-page advertisement in an Australian newspaper on Thursday, stressing that Hong Kong will “bounce back” after its recent social turmoil.

The advertisement is part of a global ad campaign to restore the international community’s confidence in Hong Kong, a government spokesperson explained. More advertisements in other languages will be launched in the mainstream media in North America, Europe, and Asia within the next week or two, the spokesman added.

The ad also stressed a cross-sector dialogue has been started, so Hong Kong people can talk through their differences and search for common ground

It is time for the SAR government to explain its ideas to the international community with sincerity and frankness. This is because the foreign media has been focusing on Hong Kong’s situation for months, the spokesman said.

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Despite the recent disruption, Hong Kong remains a safe, open, welcoming and cosmopolitan society and an internationally connected, vibrant and dynamic economy, the ad read.

What overseas readers know about the protests in Hong Kong was only “one piece of a complex social, economic and political jigsaw puzzle”, the government pointed out in the advertisement. It pledged to solve this “puzzle” with peaceful, rational and reasonable resolutions.

“The fundamentals and institutional underpinning of our economy and society are strong,” it continued. “We will no doubt bounce back. We always do.”

The full-page advertisement was published in Australian Financial Review, one of the nation’s major newspapers covering business and financial news.

It appeared one day after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor formally withdrew the extradition bill in a bid to end almost three months of unrest.

The ad also stressed a cross-sector dialogue has been started, so Hong Kong people can talk through their differences and search for common ground. During the announcement, Lam pledged she and other senior officials will reach out to people from all walks of life in Hong Kong to listen to their views and find solutions.

Moreover, the SAR government reiterated the city’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” principle, saying it provides the constitutional guarantee for Hong Kong’s continued development and success as a free and open society and economy.

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The advertisement met the government’s pledge to reassure global investors as the city shows signs of economic recession due to the Sino-US trade war and social and political unrest.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said in August that the government planned to boost external publicity to explain Hong Kong’s situation to the international community.

Hopefully, a comprehensive understanding will restore investors’ confidence in the international metropolis, Chan said.

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