The State Council appointed Li Jiachao as the sixth chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region last Friday (May 20). Premier Li Keqiang mentioned "implementing the central government's overall governance over the SAR" and "supporting the enhancement of Hong Kong's international competitiveness."
Li Jiachao said that he "knows that the responsibility is heavy", "will shoulder the mission faithfully and resolutely", and "is committed to helping the people and uniting the society."
It is easier said than done. To relieve the people's difficulties and unite the society, Li Jiachao must reflect every policy and every appointment of SAR government officials.
Before Li Jiachao took office, the best way to establish governance prestige for the next government was definitely the governance team composed of the Secretary-General.
In addition to the reorganization plan originally planned by the current Chief Executive Carrie Lam at the beginning of the year, Li Jiachao also intends to open three deputy director-general positions and expand three director-general offices.
Although Li Jiachao has so far not made any specific comments on the candidates for all politically appointed official positions, nor has he publicly discussed the current team formation during his meetings with different political parties, he said that he has already made a choice for the next Chief Secretary for Administration.
Government restructuring is just the outline
In the face of complex internal and external situations and problems, it is understandable that the government structure should be reorganized in a timely manner.
Li Jiachao said that the reorganization of various policy bureaus will help "more focused and detailed handling of related issues", "generate synergies" and "more focused on handling related policy work", and pointed out that the addition of three deputy directors can share the director's responsibilities. Heavy workload, strengthening the overall governance and co-ordination capabilities of the Hong Kong government.
He also explained that he believes that the candidate for the deputy director should "have the ability to coordinate and command", and at the same time need to have sufficient personal experience, knowledge and a governance philosophy that is consistent with his ideas.
However, historical experience has long proven that if governance is to be reformed, it cannot be accomplished by just reorganizing the structure.
Li Jiachao meets with NDP legislators.
(Information Services Department)
In terms of the organization of policy bureaus in the previous five-term SAR governments, six designs have appeared successively in response to different circumstances. However, judging from the governance performance of the previous governments after the restructuring, it seems that none of them have achieved their stated goals.
For example, in 2007, the Donald Tsang government transferred the Civil Aviation Department and the Marine Department from the Economic Development and Labour Bureau to the Transport and Housing Bureau, in order to "more integratedly strengthen Hong Kong's position as the preferred international transport and logistics hub and shipping center in Asia". From 2020 to 2020, the proportion of air transport and logistics industry in GDP will drop from 1.7% and 4.5% to 1.5% and 3.2% respectively.
The Leung Chun-ying government set up the Innovation and Technology Bureau in 2015 with the intention of "accelerating the development of innovation, technology and related industries in Hong Kong". However, from 2015 to 2020, the proportion of Hong Kong's innovation and technology industry in GDP only increased slightly from 0.7% to 1.0%.
It can be seen that the structural reorganization is only an instrument of reform, and the actual performance still depends on the subsequent performance of the principal officials.
For example, the main mission of the Labour and Welfare Bureau is to protect the rights and interests of workers and improve the well-being of the disadvantaged. Its secretary should not play word games and say that he is not in charge of the "Labour and Welfare Bureau", and even emphasizes that both employees and employers must be considered in everything. Benefit.
The goal of the Development Bureau is to meet the needs of the society and promote the "sustainable development" of Hong Kong's cities. The Secretary should not only know that he is supporting the rising property market prices and ignore the needs of the public for "affordable housing".
No matter how high-quality systems or other governance tools are in place, any non-human words you entrust will ultimately be useless.
Fulfill the promise
Li Jiachao stated that the principle of his team formation is to use talents based on their talents, regardless of their background, and hope to recruit talents with ability, experience and enthusiasm to serve the public to join the governing body, in order to "can do things and accomplish things", so choose who to govern The team is not only related to the policy direction of the next-term government, but also directly related to whether he keeps his word and wins the trust of the general public.
If the next government secretary and director are not talents with policy ideas and achievements, then not only will they not be able to win the trust of the society, but it will also make Li Jiachao break the promise he made before taking office.
Especially with the further expansion of the scale of politically appointed officials after the structural reorganization, the next governance team must pay more attention to prevent the outside world from creating a perception of cronyism and political remuneration, especially not to use them to maintain certain political relations. Team members who are not necessarily too competent for the job.
On the other hand, during the election of the chief executive, Li Jiachao repeatedly stated that his administration would "target results", and he also stated in his platform that he would set goals and set "key performance indicators" for designated tasks within 100 days of taking office.
At the first meeting of the Legislative Council Subcommittee, the representative of the Chief Executive-designate's Office also said that the focus of the restructuring is not the question of how much it will cost, but whether the results, division of labor, coordination and overall planning can be achieved smoothly.
However, as questioned by lawmakers and public opinion, the "key performance indicators" should be accurately reflected in accountability officials and even front-line civil servants, so that they can be expected to produce satisfactory results.
Before the ancients carried out reforms and reforms, they would first establish a tree to win the trust of the people, and the reason why the Hong Kong government has struggled in recent years is due to the lack of governance authority.
Since Li Jiachao wants to relieve the difficulties of the people and open a new chapter for Hong Kong, his credibility is very important, which directly affects the political energy of the new government.
We earnestly hope that the next Hong Kong governance team will keep its word and "deliver what it says", and will not Don't forget this series of commitments in the next five years.
Do what you say to build credibility
When it comes to prestige and political energy, the central government is especially worthy of reference.
Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary-General and Office Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, held a telephone conversation with US National Security Advisor Sullivan earlier, pointing out that "China will take firm actions to safeguard its own sovereignty and security interests, and we will do what we say. , just to demonstrate the weight of political commitment.
In the past, no matter in the Sino-US trade war or other issues, China has never been afraid of intimidation by other countries, which is why it has been able to convince the international community that it is true to its word in international affairs.
As for the central government's efforts to formulate local laws in Hong Kong to safeguard national security and improve the electoral system in recent years, it has undoubtedly demonstrated the style of "doing what it says".
Many chief executives and bureau-level officials have always "talked one thing and done another", and have not been able to "walk the talk" like the Chinese government.
The next and future Hong Kong rulers must bear in mind that rebuilding people's trust through actual performance is their "primary task".
(file picture)
On the other hand, the recent SAR government is a different matter. Most people in the society are probably not sincerely convinced of its governance, because many chief executives and bureau-level officials have always "talked one thing and done another", and they have not been able to. Like the central government, it "walks the talk".
Take the reorganization of the government structure as an example. In her campaign platform five years ago, Carrie Lam said that "in order to improve the efficiency of governance and meet the requirements of the new situation and the new economy for the new role of the government, it is really necessary to adjust the government structure." I will consider the establishment of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Tourism Bureau and the spin-off of the Transport and Housing Bureau during my term of office... These things can only be done by the next government. The rest will unite the society, walk with the citizens, develop the economy, improve people's livelihood, and promote democracy. Waiting for the "priority task" has all become empty words that have not been implemented.
The next term, Leung Chun-ying, claimed that his election platform promises were basically implemented, but in fact, the cancellation of MPF "hedging", standard working hours, and universal retirement protection have all aborted or could not be completed as scheduled.
Also, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who was promoted from the Secretary for Development to the Chief Secretary for Administration at the time, said that the "small house" issue needed to be dealt with, but she failed in her tenure as Chief Executive.
In the Analects of Confucius, Confucius replied to Zigong's question about the government, saying: "The people will not stand without trust." Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching said: "If you make light promises, you will have few trusts.
The next and future Hong Kong rulers must bear in mind that rebuilding the people's trust through actual performance is their "priority task", and they must not easily make promises that cannot be fulfilled.
No matter the place or system, every policy, every appointment, and every utterance of a ruler should embody this trust-building awareness.
After all, the trust of the people and society in the government cannot be supported by a small amount of empty applause alone, but needs to be supported by a little bit of concrete details.
If government leaders talk about "results as the goal", but follow bad habits in selecting talents and formulating policies, it is impossible to truly gain the trust of society.