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Hong Kong Policy Tackles Key Points: Cut Carrie Lam’s 30,000-Word Plan To Put The City ‘Back On The Right Track’
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s fourth political speech was the most overtly political yet, and the longest, tying Leung Chun-ying’s record for the longest policy plan in history. For about two hours and 15 minutes, Lam brought home what she characterized as the need to save Hong Kong’s constitutional order from “chaos”, while laying down a long list of economic and social measures – most typical fodder for a political direction – they will rely heavily on Beijing’s assistance and coordination if they are to help the city pulled out of the economic recession brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are the five key takeaways from Tuesday’s speech. Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the great stories originating from China. How it happened: Carrie Lam’s political speech praises Beijing’s unconditional support. Restoring constitutional order Hong Kong represents a “huge hole” in China’s national security, and restoring constitutional order and protecting the political system from “chaos” would be “urgent” priorities, Lam said. While peace had been “restored” in Hong Kong since the imposition of the national security law drafted by Beijing on June 30, he added, efforts should be made to ensure that national security is protected “comprehensively”. The government would make better use of the annual National Constitutional Day and National Safety Education Day to carry out large-scale public education, Lam continued, while two laws would be amended to strengthen procedures surrounding loyalty pledges from legislators, judges and public officials to the city and the Basic Law. Meanwhile, Lam appeared to take a somewhat softer stance on the young protesters facing prosecution over the riots last year. Police were prepared to consider handling cases involving detainees under the age of 18 who were not involved in serious crimes with measures leading to their rehabilitation, such as through precautionary and mandatory orders, he said. But the prerequisite was that the minors admit their wrongdoing, he added. Integration of the Greater Bay Area As expected, a key focus of Lam’s political leadership concerned integration in the Greater Bay Area, a plan to convert a group of cities into Guangdong, along with Hong Kong and Macao. , in an economic powerhouse. Hong Kong and the cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen would be upgraded, Lam said, by opening the cross-border investment program to Hong Kong-listed losing biotech companies and stocks listed on the science and technology innovation board of the mainland. The Hong Kong Authority, which manages the city’s airport, will acquire more shares in Zhuhai Airport, a smaller airport in the bay area for domestic travel, to “deepen cooperation” in the aviation sector and build a “world-class aviation group”. , a youth employment plan will be launched to encourage companies with operations in both Hong Kong and Bay Area cities to hire and deploy local college graduates to work on the mainland. The plan will provide 2,000 places.3 . One of the most immediate steps Lam promised to take to help local businesses hit by the pandemic-related recession was the abolition of the double ad valorem stamp tax (DSD) on commercial property starting Thursday. Removing the tax would lower transaction costs in commercial real estate deals and could trigger investment, analysts have said. Noting that Hong Kong’s GDP is expected to shrink 6.1 percent this year, the worst drop on record, Lam said the city would evolve. in its role as an intermediary between the continent and the rest of the world. With Beijing pursuing a new “dual circulation” economic strategy that prioritizes what it calls internal circulation, or fostering self-sustaining domestic demand over exports, “Hong Kong can further strengthen its role as an intermediary” when it comes to so-called external circulation. or participation with external markets, Lam said. The postponement of Lam’s leadership increased anticipation, potential for disappointment4 . The successful fight against the Covid-19 pandemic relied on help from the mainland, including the central government’s promise to reserve a certain amount of mainland-developed or produced vaccines for Hong Kong people to use when needed. Lam said. The city’s recovery is the resumption of cross-border travel, a point Lam brought up to central government officials during their recent meetings on the mainland, only to be rebuffed and severely reminded to prioritize virus control measures. at home. , a universal community testing scheme, similar to the one seen in September, might have to be retrieved to achieve the goal of zero local infections needed to reopen the border with the mainland, though it did offer some other details on how this could be. fulfilled. 5 . Increased supply of housing Unlike Lam’s previous political speeches, housing and land took a back seat this year. He said the government had identified 330 hectares of land on which to build 316,000 public housing units over the next 10 years. The decision to accelerate the Northern Link rail project was new and would leave 90 hectares of land available to provide more than 70,000 housing units. Meanwhile, quick relief will be provided to some 90,000 people in the long line of public housing, including a cash allowance for low-income applicants and the conversion of hotels and guesthouses with low occupancy rates into transitional housing. The gigantic, Lantau Tomorrow Vision land reclamation plan will also be effectively accelerated, and the government will withdraw from the legislature several funding requests for civil service positions that were scheduled to be reviewed prior to Lantau’s. A HK $ 550 million (US $ 71 million) funding boost for a preliminary study of Lantau’s plan will be the next item on the agenda for the Legislative Council, now dominated by the pro-establishment camp. By providing our readers with expert coverage of the policy direction, this article is free for all. Please support us in our mission to provide you with quality journalism. More from the South China Morning Post: * How it happened: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s political speech hails Beijing’s unconditional support, doubles national security, and promises to ‘relaunch the city, rebuild trust’ * Postponement of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s political direction has increased anticipation and potential for disappointment. This Hong Kong Politics article addresses the key takeaways: Cutting Carrie Lam’s 30,000-word plan to put the city ‘back on track’ first appeared in the South China Morning PostFor the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
