Interview | Scholar Hong Wen's Hong Kong Dream-Bridging the Two Hong Kongs, Sharing Prosperity for All

"My child told me that he wanted to be a writer in the future, but he was worried that the writer would "get food", so he thought of a way, planning to be a teacher during the day, writing at night, and using the teacher's salary to support his dream of being a writer. A generation of children is really hard, and this society is also very sad." Hong Wen, a candidate for the election committee of the 7th Legislative Council, has multiple identities-that is, she has come to Hong Kong from the "18th-tier cities" of Guizhou to seek dreams for more than 20 years. "Hong Kong Diao" in 1984 was a scholar who has been engaged in policy research in the Central Policy Group of the Special Administrative Region Government and many private think tanks for more than 10 years, and is the mother of an ordinary middle school student.

The reason for feeling the hard work of the children and the social sorrow is that Hong Wen has put aside political differences and value judgments for many years, and she has seen Hong Kong economically split into "two Hong Kong"-"One Hong Kong" has always been prosperous. , Dominated by business elites and professionals, enjoying the dividends of economic soaring and the rise of the country; "No. 2 Hong Kong" is hindered by the single industrial structure and stagnant upward mobility, accumulating a large number of middle-class and grassroots, facing deteriorating employment and degrading life ——However, the interests of the two Hong Kong are clearly different, but the SAR government confuses them, causing the latter to fail to share the development achievements of the former fairly.

Hong Wen published the book "The Road to Bridging the Two Hong Kong: Dismantling the Deep-seated Economic Contradictions" earlier on this issue, hoping to break the mental confinement of political elites, so that they can lead Hong Kong out of the fog; the result was a lot of praise, and it was driven. She boldly moved forward, determined to move from policy research to policy implementation, and vowed to use the parliamentary platform to practice the concept of "bridging"-as a mother, Hong Wen hopes that every child will have the opportunity to realize self-worth; as a scholar, Hong Wen hopes that all classes will be Can get due benefits from sustainable development; as a Hong Kong drifter, Hong Wen hopes that people from all over the world can take Hong Kong as their home like her and live here.

Behind the splendor of Hong Kong is the disparity between the rich and the poor.

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In the past, Hong Kong was full of opportunities for diversity and tolerance

"In the past 20 years, Hong Kong has been like a big dream. When the world has been moving forward, we don't know what we are doing, so that many things have not been able to keep up with the times." As early as 2000 at the beginning of the return. When Hong Kong institutions of higher learning just started to relax the restrictions on recruiting top talents from the Mainland, Hong Wen has already studied for a doctorate in the Urban Planning and Environmental Management Research Center of the University of Hong Kong. , Whether it is glorious or decay, tenderness or cruelty, they all share the same joy and sorrow.

Hong Wen comes from Anshun City, one of the poorest areas in Guizhou Province, but she won the top ten in the college entrance examination in Guizhou Province and ranked among the top urban planning department of Shanghai Tongji University.

From a small poor city to a metropolis, you know how difficult it is to just think about it, but when she talked about this past study, she only humbly emphasized that she was really lucky to implement the very strict "recruitment quota system." "Under, get a Tongji planning quota every two years in the province.

"When I was in Tongji, the whole of China was in a mentality of seeking solutions to urban development problems, and Hong Kong was a model for urban development in the Mainland at that time." Hong Wen's professors said that Hong Kong was definitely "a model of urban planning in Asia." "——Efficient and intensive land use, unobstructed public transportation, country parks close to the urban area, and Central Central drive the development of Hong Kong... All of these make her yearning, so she won Tongji University After the master’s degree, apply to the University of Hong Kong to study for a doctorate and scholarship.

Hong Wen originally only planned to come to Hong Kong to study hard and broaden her horizons, but she didn't expect that she would not want to leave after this, and she soon regarded Hong Kong as her "hometown".

"I quickly regarded myself as a Hong Konger, and I learned to speak Cantonese madly after coming for more than three months. I say that I have a thick skin when I meet anyone." At that time, I was not made fun of or excluded, but quickly mingle with local friends, "Because it is diverse, open, and tolerant, it makes me very comfortable."

Hong Wen's determination to move from policy research to policy implementation is to use the parliamentary platform to practice the concept of bridging the "two Hong Kong".

(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

Today's Hong Kong system is rigid, cumbersome and bloated

"I like this city so much. I have a very strong sense of identity and belonging." Whenever she talks about how good Hong Kong is, Hong Wen's eyes will sparkle.

She likes the orderliness here, both prosperous and elegant, but also secular; she also likes the rich culture here, which not only retains Chinese traditions, but also keeps up with international trends; she prefers the fairness and meritocracy of the system here. , Let everyone enjoy development opportunities, "No matter what background you have, as long as you work hard, you can rely on your own strength to get what you want."

The personal experience of "no hard work, no gain" opened Hong Wen's magical journey of engaging in policy research.

She did not have any personal connections and connections, and she was able to successfully apply for funding for a doctoral dissertation for research on Shanghai Zhangjiang's high-tech industrial planning, and she was even able to publish and win awards in international journals. She also nominated herself to the "One Country, Two Systems Research Center" before graduation, thus leading the way in 2003. I found a job in 2015 and voluntarily returned scholarships to the University of Hong Kong. I can also become the full-time senior research director of the Central Policy Group, the "most powerful brain" of the SAR government. "Research.

It is a pity that Hong Kong, which Hong Wen said is diverse, inclusive, open to all rivers, and full of opportunities, no longer exists today.

"At the time, I felt that Hong Kong’s urban planning system was very advanced. For example, a bridge was to be built in front of my house, and several public consultations were required to allow me to express my opinions. However, when society has been developing, communication equipment has been improving. , But the consultation system is still that system. Back then, there were 20 people who came to listen to a consultation. Now you can have hundreds of thousands of email queries. You have to answer all of them before you can go down. What should I do?” Hong Wen sighed The "model city planning" that was so longed for in the past is now becoming more and more unfamiliar, because most of the various regulations and many rules made in the early years have not been improved, and the result has become increasingly rigid, cumbersome and bloated. Forgetting that the emergence of the system is the original intention of serving people. .

The economic fission has formed "two Hong Kong". "One Hong Kong" still enjoys prosperity, while "No. 2 Hong Kong" accumulates a large number of middle class and grassroots. Their chances of upward mobility are becoming increasingly slim.

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Economic tears form "two Hong Kong"

It can be said that the SAR government under the "executive leadership" is clearly the "master of the system," but it has dwarfed itself and became the "servant of the system."

However, Hong Wen believes that the problem does not entirely come from the SAR government, because "the society has no tolerance for fault tolerance, and there is no room for fault tolerance in the opposing political environment. The government naturally tends not to do well. As for the efficiency and effectiveness of problem solving, then It's not the point anymore."

As a result, the past 20 years have been like a dream of Huang Liang, who thought they were pursuing the supreme value progress, but fell into an unprecedented political vortex, and even directly led to the backwardness of social development.

Or to use Hong Wen’s words, today Hong Kong has not only been torn apart politically, but in fact, it has already formed a fading "two Hong Kong" economically. Elites and professionals mainly enjoy the dividends of economic soaring and the rise of the country; "Hong Kong No. 2" is hindered by the single industrial structure and stagnant upward mobility, accumulating a large number of middle-class and grassroots, facing deteriorating employment and degrading life-but The interests of the two Hong Kong are clearly different, but the SAR government confuses them. As a result, the latter fails to share the development achievements of the former fairly. The general public can't help but worry about the future of the next generation.

"From time to time, we will hear the appeals of "Going to school is not asking for scores" and "Giving children a happy childhood"; but today, it is difficult for us to answer. What will be waiting for children who have a happy childhood but do not have good grades in the future? Life experience?... "University is not the only choice"-this is another comforting word we often hear. But, what are the other choices? Where? How many? Our current economic structure , Do you provide diversified and promising employment options for children who cannot go to university?” As the mother of an ordinary middle school student, Hong Wen was also nervous and anxious, and wrote a column in the newspaper as early as March 2016, the first article Then started the discussion with the topic "Hong Kong needs to improve the economic structure to save the children."

The education system is closely related to the consolidation of the economic structure.

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Improving the economic structure to save children's future

That was a year and a half after the end of the large-scale occupation in 2014, when it seemed that the singing and dancing were rising, but they were ready to move. There was a "Mong Kok Riot" advocating "struggle bravely and restrain violence with force", and held a "Recover Hong Kong, Times". The "revolutionary" "Xindong by-election", but from the government down to the society, it seems that everyone doesn't care much about it.

At the same time, in the half year before that, there were a total of more than 24 student suicides in Hong Kong, 11 of which were college students and the other 13 were primary and secondary school students.

Against this background, a conversation between Hong Wen and her 10-year-old son made her determined to take a step forward and do something for the next generation.

"(At that time) my child told me that he wanted to be a writer in the future, but he was worried that the writer would "get food", so he thought of a way to be a teacher during the day and write at night, and use the teacher's salary to support him. Writer’s dream. This generation of children is really hard, and this society is also very sad. This incident triggered me to think about the problem of the education system at the level of economic structure, because the whole society is crazy and the children are educated. You must become the teacher and teacher in "One Hong Kong". Parents, schools, and society are also committed to sending children to the bridge to squeeze you to death, without the opportunity to do what you want to do."

As a result, Hong Wen’s opening article in the column made a headshot: "Improve the economic structure, vigorously promote the diversification and substantiveness of the industrial structure, stabilize and increase middle-level employment, and provide young people with more diversified development options. Children who do not have good scores can have opportunities and room for development. This is the ultimate solution to save children!"

There are three reasons for this argument. First, the industrial structure of Hong Kong is becoming more and more uniform, the manufacturing industry is extremely shrinking, the service industry is excessively concentrated, emerging industries have not improved, and the economy has not gained new momentum; secondly, the industrial structure has become high-end and low-end. The polarization of socialization, especially low-end and inferiority, is the most serious. Finally, the polarization of the industrial structure leads to the polarization of the employment structure. Investment and local competitiveness are weakened and lost. Young people lack opportunities for upward mobility. Even if they can successfully enter university, they will flock to professional service industries such as medicine, finance, and business. The way out is getting narrower and narrower—but the SAR government still says no The future economic direction of the Qing Dynasty has not been able to formulate industrial development plans and supporting industrial policies.

Liu Zhaojia, the former chief adviser of the China Strategy Group, has worked with Hong Wen for many years and praised Hong Wen for her education in Hong Kong and the Mainland, and has a broader vision and unique perspectives than many scholars.

(Provided by interviewee)

"One-way advantage transfer" has drawbacks

At that time, Hong Wen had left the central policy team for several years and became the vice president of the Li & Fung Research Center under Li & Fung Development (China) Co., Ltd.: "Actually, when I was still in the Central Policy Team, I had already implemented the research and implementation of my research. The policies of Hong Kong have generated certain doubts. For example, we have always said that "Hong Kong must integrate into the overall situation of national development" and "Develop Hong Kong's strengths and serve the needs of the country"-these two points are undoubtedly the fundamental direction of Hong Kong's future development. However, if we only continue to use " "One-way advantage transfer model", in fact, may not be good for Hong Kong."

The "one-way advantage transfer model" mentioned by Hong Wen means that Hong Kong has always focused only on promoting the opening of the mainland market and encouraging core industries to invest in the mainland. Originally, it was planned to solve the problem of rising local costs and small market through industrial transfer. Later, they failed to use the free space to develop higher value-added manufacturing industries, and the transferred manufacturing industries simply copied the original model and expanded their scale. They failed to adapt to the overall development of the Mainland and could only be eliminated in the end.

"In many cases, the development suggestions we give may be good for Hong Kong in general, but in fact, it is often not that "two Hong Kong" can achieve balanced benefits; even when one Hong Kong benefits, the other Hong Kong may pay for it. Hong Wen has switched from "government" to "market" and observed the actual impact on the front line. As a result, she has a deeper understanding of the dividend gap between the "two Hong Kong" and strengthened her confidence that she must bravely point out the drawbacks of the "one-way transfer". .

As described by Hong Wen’s book "The Road to Bridging the Two Hong Kong: Dismantling the Deep-seated Economic Contradictions" published in July this year, "The state's promotion of "going out" is basically to "bring back" what is needed to solve the problem. Internal conflicts. On the other hand, Hong Kong has no strategy when promoting enterprises to go global. It has not thought about how local people and the local economy can benefit from it. This has led to the previous model of "gathering", other than finance. The field has gradually changed to "dispersion", but "Many people are unable to analyze the underlying reasons in depth and regard it as the result of Hong Kong’s advantages being eroded by the Mainland. The centrifugal force against the country is deepening and the local awareness is expanding. This is undoubtedly what we need. Vigilant."

The state promotes "going out" in order to "bring back" what is needed, but when Hong Kong promotes enterprises to go out, it has not thought about how local people and the local economy can benefit from it, so internal conflicts are difficult to alleviate.

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Promote the balanced development of "Two Hong Kong"

An obvious example is that in order to promote the development of the function of an international financial center, the SAR government has further loosened capital and adopted tax cuts and other measures to attract more capital inflows and stay in Hong Kong; however, due to the lack of diversified physical industries in Hong Kong And investment opportunities. After the influx of funds, most of them enter the financial and real estate markets, further promoting the financialization and real estateization of the economy, and at the same time pushing up property prices, and catalyzing the hollowing out of other industries, exacerbating the division of the two Hong Kongs.

Benefited from the big gains in finance and real estate, "Hong Kong One", which specializes in professional services such as law, consulting, and accounting, is like a paradise, but it has gathered most of the labor force and revolves around traditional trade, logistics, tourism, retail, catering and other industries. "Hong Kong No. 2" is like hell.

Hong Wen wrote in the book that these completely different "Hong Kong One" and "Hong Kong Two" are like two disjoint worlds in parallel time and space. In fact, they are both real Hong Kong. However, due to the various depths mentioned above Level conflicts. The prosperity of "One Hong Kong" did not drive the development of "No. Two Hong Kong". Instead, it reduced its competitiveness, narrowed the scope of employment, narrowed the upper stream, solidified classes, and widened the gap between income and property prices. The cracks in Hong Kong have deepened, forming an insurmountable wealth and class divide, leading to the accumulation of public grievances, and the increasing intensification of contradictions and conflicts.

At the same time, the society’s long-standing mercantile culture and the laissez-faire of the SAR government have no restrictions on mergers and acquisitions, no restrictions on capital expansion, and accelerated "winner-take-all", resulting in the concentration of local markets and a disguised lack of innovation vitality.

On the other hand, high-end elites and grassroots one-way permit immigrants have impacted Hong Kong people on employment, housing, welfare, culture, values, and ideology, intensifying the conflict between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and strengthening the hostility and xenophobia of Hong Kong people. .

Hong Wen believes that Hong Kong should be integrated into the overall situation of national development, but in the process, it is necessary to turn "one-way advantage" into "two-way transfer."

(Photo by Zheng Zifeng)

"2.5 Industries" to open up new points in the economy

"The Road to Bridge Two Hong Kong-Dismantling the Deep-seated Economic Contradictions" was compiled by Hong Wen in her private time after she transferred to the Assistant General Manager of Public Affairs and Research of New World Development Co., Ltd. in 2019, and systematically sorted it out. In order to promote the balanced development of the two Hong Kongs, all classes can benefit from the "substantialization and diversification of the industrial structure" that she has called since writing in newspapers in 2016.

In this regard, she proposed the solution of "2.5 industries"-with the evolution of the economy and the refinement and modernization of the industrial division of labor, the dual division of traditional manufacturing and service industries has become outdated. In the modern industrial value chain, there are many manufacturing industries. Links require the cooperation of high-quality services, and many service links need to depend on the existence of manufacturing links. Manufacturing and services are therefore in a state of integration, becoming a "2.5 industry", which has the central function of the service industry, but the manufacturing process also Only with functions such as research and development, processing, and maintenance can the two complement each other.

For example, Hong Wen pointed out that maintenance of aircraft engines and parts, after-sales maintenance and services of luxury goods, vaccines, medicine, medical-related industries, etc., are all "2.5 industries" that are very suitable for Hong Kong's development, and they usually have four major characteristics:

First, they are all knowledge, technology, craft, or capital-intensive industries with high entry barriers and high value-added levels; second, most of them are light manufacturing services, and the demand for land, labor, raw materials, etc. is not too large, which is consistent with Hong Kong’s actual conditions; third, it can meet the rising consumer demand in the Asia-Pacific region and have the potential to serve a larger market; fourth, the product supply chain is relatively complex, and its production process has an impact on product development, management level, production technology and efficiency, and intellectual property rights The requirements for protection, logistics and transportation efficiency, and social integrity are relatively high, which fully meets the advantages of Hong Kong's service industry and system, and is expected to bring about a greater multiplier effect.

In addition, Hong Wen also proposed to face the monopoly of consortia, improve the "Competition Regulations", and promote market competition; build a complete technology industry ecosystem to promote the close integration of upstream, midstream, and downstream, so as to continuously train, absorb, and Retaining talents; actively exploring new business models and business areas brought about by the wave of e-commerce to assist in the upgrading and transformation of trade logistics. In particular, it is necessary to pay attention to the rise of "global production, sales in China" and "production in China, sales in China". The promotion of the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (RCEP) Xinxin Free Trade Agreement (FTA) also helped the rise of the "Asian Production, Asia Sales" model, and the formulation of an industrial development blueprint was the starting point for Hong Kong to adjust its role; breaking the tradition The one-way transfer model establishes a two-way advantage interaction, that is, in the process of Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of the country and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it not only uses its own advantages, but also strives to make up for its shortcomings. It is necessary to "go out" and "bring back." , To achieve a balanced development of "global" and "local".

Hong Wen believes that the planning of the northern metropolitan area should be based on both housing and industry.

(Report on the Development Strategy of the Northern Metropolitan Area)

Find a new way for the next generation

"Actually, not everyone has the ability to develop in the Greater Bay Area, nor is everyone willing to leave their hometown. Why can't I protect my homeland and develop Hong Kong? Then you have to create opportunities for me, right? It is not that you can give me a set of public housing to enable me to realize my self-worth, but also create opportunities for me to contribute to Hong Kong society.” Hong Wen’s book sets aside political differences and value judgments and objectively examines different classes in Hong Kong The real situation of Hong Kong is based on the vital interests of Hong Kong people, and in-depth thinking about the opportunities and challenges of this city. However, although the book has received a lot of feedback after the publication of the book, the overall sales volume is not high. Reading this kind of book, the audience is the small group of people who are concerned about Hong Kong issues. All I can do is buy 500 copies for myself and give them to policymakers."

Hong Wen said frankly that Hong Kong’s imagination has been imprisoned for too long, and she once felt powerless: “I called cases and readers everywhere to collect feedback, only to realize that if I want to really promote a policy, it’s not just a phone call. For example, the expansion of the aircraft engine and parts maintenance industry mentioned in the book requires the government to take the lead to create this industry and straighten out the coordination of the entire ecological chain. It cannot be supported by a large company alone."

The deep-seated contradictions in Hong Kong have long been in deep water. Coupled with the game between China and the United States and the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the economy has finally reached a crossroads. When the electoral system reform is completed, the emptiness of social focus has finally shifted to how to promote good governance, Hong Wen I have become more and more aware of "worries and blessings depend on, and blessings and misfortunes", and even think that the superposition of several crises has formed a perfect storm, which may be an opportunity to promote Hong Kong's reforms. Instead of wandering around at intersections and blaming each other, why not use it wisely. Is the crisis promoting Hong Kong’s economic reforms and finding a new way forward for the next generation?

Therefore, Hong Wen, who can’t even fight against her son, decided to participate in this Legislative Council election, hoping to spread her "road of bridging", "Let’s see if someone can resonate with me. Practice with me".

When asked whether she would quit her current job as a real estate developer and work full-time in politics after she was elected, Hong Wen said frankly that she was still thinking about it.

On the one hand, she participated in the election of the electoral committee in her personal capacity, representing the interests of all Hong Kong people, not individual sectors; on the other hand, she believes that real estate developers are very important stakeholders in society, regardless of land. No matter how serious the problem is, they should not be excluded, but they should be brought into the group that solves the problem together.

But she emphasized that if the two identities conflict, she will choose Hong Kong's overall interests without hesitation, because her original intention was to do something practical for Hong Kong.

Hong Wen is confident that she can make good use of her knowledge of the country and Hong Kong, and work with society to create a more balanced and diversified economic model, which will open up the knots and give "No. 2 Hong Kong" new momentum for development. "Hong Kong" goes hand in hand, so that every child can realize their self-worth, so that all classes can share the prosperity of Hong Kong, so that talents from all corners of the world can take Hong Kong as their home and live their lives.

For the list of other candidates for the Legislative Council Election Committee,