Since 2013, some high-ranking figures have been bandying about such phrases as “actively and steadily advancing reforms” and “tearing down the walls of vested interests”.

On the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on July 1, 2022, President Xi Jinping mentioned these phrases for the first time in his address at the official ceremony which also marked the inauguration of the sixth term of the HKSAR government.

On July 18 this year, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the Resolution on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization. Soon afterwards Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, met with Paul Chan Mo-po, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, in Beijing, when he urged Hong Kong to “recognize, respond to and pursue changes and achieve better development through reform”. Even before the latest third plenary session, a Chinese mainland-based current affairs commentator, writing under the pen name “Jing Hai-hou”, published an article about Hong Kong’s reform expectations, in which he pointed out that Hong Kong needs to “draw a clear path, find some leverage, and let people see that, as a mature economy, it still has potential and space for a nirvana-like revival”.

He went so far as to conclude that Hong Kong has no choice but to face difficult reform issues head-on, scientifically pick the right path of reform, draw out systemic reform measures, and muster whatever is necessary in achieving its development goals against all odds without losing its unique advantages. He also stated he believes that now is the best time for Hong Kong to pursue reform, but not before a consensus is reached on a plan.

As for the definition of reform, Jing suggested four key points:

First, reform is not subversion of the fundamental system or its inherent logic. On the contrary, reform is meant to save the stability and self-consistency of the fundamental system and basic mechanisms.

Second, reform is not merely patching up some loopholes or repainting the walls, but rather giving the house a complete new look from inside out, with strong traits of positive development and innovation to boot.

Third, reform is not a compromise, but a matter of revival by tearing down the walls of vested interests and discarding prejudices.

Fourth, reform is not a fad, but rather a concerted effort to punch through constricted development flows.

On July 19, the day after the conclusion of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, Lau Siu-kai, retired professor of sociology with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and advisor for the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, published a commentary, calling for the advance of Hong Kong’s reform and development with the resolution as spiritual guidance, and offering a few pointers of his own on Hong Kong reform.

He observed that the current HKSAR government has yet to introduce a complete set of comprehensive, systematic and long-term plans and strategies for reform and development, while many residents are concerned over the prospects for Hong Kong’s economy. It is therefore high time the HKSAR government put forward a meticulously researched, well-thought-out and workable development strategy that is systematically viable, coherent and well-coordinated across the social spectrum to elevate the city’s morale.

Lau also pointed out that some people are opposed to Hong Kong integrating its own development into the overall development strategy of the country, and that the central government’s national development program includes Hong Kong. As a result, those people’s negative attitude creates various hurdles for Hong Kong’s integration into the nation’s overall development strategy.

He said such opposition is born of misinformation or disinformation about long-term macro planning and related research by government agencies. Considering there was more than a century of British rule and colonial indoctrination in Hong Kong, some people have become accustomed to and even supportive of such governance philosophies as “incrementalism” and “muddling through”, as opposed to long-term development strategies and planning. Lau stated he was worried that the lack of long-term macro strategic thinking would obstruct the city’s development in the long run and make it even more difficult for Hong Kong’s alignment with the country’s overall development strategy.

To address this problem, Lau warned the HKSAR government against sticking to the old ways, while urging lawmakers to grant the executive branch more power in the form of new bylaws to tear down the walls of vested interests and any other obstacles blocking Hong Kong’s development policy reform and long-term prosperity, and to plan for a future of enhanced social fairness and justice, among other prime objectives.

Many keen observers of the situation in Hong Kong have spoken out in recent years, saying that time is running out for the HKSAR to formulate its own comprehensive long-term development plan that facilitates the integration of its own development into the nation’s overall development strategy. And the chief executive of the HKSAR government is without a doubt in charge of the whole policy-making exercise from start to finish during his term in office.

The author is a specialist in radiology with a Master of Public Health from the University of Hong Kong, and is an adviser to Our Hong Kong Foundation.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.