Li Jiachao was elected as the sixth chief executive of Hong Kong on May 8. He is expected to visit Beijing on May 28 and accept the central government's appointment of him as the sixth chief executive. Many people in both places expect him to manage Hong Kong well, and are more concerned about his election. Can we clear customs earlier and develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area?
Zheng Yongnian, chair professor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) and chairman of the Guangzhou Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Research Institute, recently interviewed by the official media "China Daily" and "Knight Island", commenting on the impact of Li Jiachao's election on Hong Kong, and also talked about Hong Kong issues , the development of the Greater Bay Area, etc.
This article combines the views of Zheng Yongnian, experts and scholars from the two places on the issues of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, and provides a possible way for people to think about the future development of Hong Kong.
This is the first in a series of articles.
Since the return of the motherland, the fundamental issue in Hong Kong is politics or people's livelihood, which has aroused constant discussion among the people of Hong Kong and the mainland for many years.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. In the past 25 years, Hong Kong has experienced many challenges such as the Asian financial crisis, SARS (SARS), Occupy Central, and the anti-revision bill. The deep-seated problems of the economy and people's livelihood have not been resolved. , the Hong Kong government has a heavy responsibility and arduous task in governance.
In recent years, the Hong Kong government hopes to increase land supply and solve housing problems through long-term development plans such as the "Northern Metropolitan Area Development Strategy" and "Lantau Tomorrow".
However, far water cannot save near fire. In recent years, there has been a wave of immigration in Hong Kong, and the outflow of many talents and funds from Hong Kong has affected Hong Kong's population structure. Do not trust.
In order to solve the Hong Kong problem and make Hong Kong citizens sincerely turn to the government, Hong Kong and the country, the government must have a deep understanding of the nature and causes of the Hong Kong problem and explore solutions.
Among them, the most critical question is: "Why has the Hong Kong SAR government failed to solve the Hong Kong problem for 25 years?"
It is a "constitutional responsibility" for the central government to care about Hong Kong affairs
The central government has been concerned about Hong Kong's development for many years, and hopes that the SAR government will unite and lead all sectors of Hong Kong to continue to develop the economy, improve people's livelihood, and maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was established by the state in accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and Articles 12 and 43 of the Basic Law also stated that the Hong Kong government should be responsible to Hong Kong and the central government when governing Hong Kong.
It is the constitutional responsibility of the central government to care about Hong Kong affairs.
The State Council Information Office also mentioned in the white paper titled "Democratic Development in Hong Kong under "One Country, Two Systems" on December 20 last year, "The Constitution and the Basic Law endow the Central Government with the constitutional power and responsibility to establish and develop the democratic system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; the Constitution and the Basic Law jointly constitute The constitutional basis of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region grants the central government the overall governance power over the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including the power directly exercised by the central government, as well as the authorization of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to exercise a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the law and the right to supervise the high degree of autonomy of the Special Administrative Region.”
President Xi Jinping attended the inauguration ceremony of the fifth SAR government on the morning of July 1, 2017, and swore the oath of Chief Executive Carrie Lam and key officials.
(File photo / Photo by Yu Junliang)
In the oath of the Chief Executive's inauguration, he "did his duties, abide by the law, act with integrity, serve the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and be responsible to the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region." necessary prerequisites for Hong Kong.
The above provisions can be understood as if the Hong Kong government fails to exercise its functions and powers in accordance with the Basic Law and Hong Kong laws, uphold the rule of law, protect human rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, unite and lead Hong Kong to develop the economy, improve people's livelihood, and maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability, then the Hong Kong government will not only Failure to account for Hong Kong citizens is also failure to account for the central government.
Deep-seated problems to be solved Han Zheng: Always start to solve
As early as November 2002, when then-Premier Zhu Rongji visited Hong Kong, he already talked about Hong Kong's economic problems, saying that the challenge Hong Kong faces is that "prosperity has accumulated bubbles" over the years, but Hong Kong has "a relatively complete legal system and relatively high efficiency." The civil servants and outstanding business management talents have extensive connections with the world. He believes that "Hong Kong's affairs can be solved by Hong Kong itself."
In 2005, then-Premier Wen Jiabao had already pointed out that Hong Kong had "deep contradictions".
In 2010, Wen Jiabao warned at a press conference after the closing of the National People's Congress that Hong Kong was facing five deep-seated contradictions: how to make full use of its existing advantages and continue to maintain and develop Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, shipping center and trade center; how to combine Hong Kong’s characteristics to develop advantageous industries; how to take advantage of Hong Kong’s proximity to the mainland to strengthen the connection between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta; how to make Hong Kong people inclusive, build consensus, and unite to maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability; how to improve people’s livelihood; how to develop education .
Wen Jiabao once pointed out that there are "deep-seated contradictions" in Hong Kong.
(Getty Images)
Wen Jiabao mentioned at the press conference of the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress in 2011 that Hong Kong must have a long-term and scientific development plan; it must pay attention to and resolve the deep-seated contradictions in economic and social development; and strive to improve people's livelihood.
In 2011, Wen Jiabao also demanded that Hong Kong resolve the deep-seated contradictions in the society, and in particular demanded that the Hong Kong government and then Chief Executive Donald Tsang resolve the prominent contradictions in economic and social development, and focus on improving people's livelihood.
The central government has also paid close attention to the housing issue in Hong Kong in recent years.
Han Zheng, Vice Premier of the State Council and head of the Central Leading Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, said last year that the housing issue in Hong Kong has the history and development of Hong Kong. It is very difficult to solve this problem, but there must be a time to solve it. , and there is no other way, the ultimate damage is the interests of the whole of Hong Kong.
The remarks reflect that the central government is very concerned about the housing problem in Hong Kong and hopes that the Hong Kong government can improve the housing problem.
The Hong Kong government is ineffective and its governance is poor, and there are still 226,000 people living in sub-divided housing in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong government mentioned in its 2017 policy address that "people's livelihood issues such as housing, medical care, and welfare services are closely related to people's lives".
According to the report, "Among the many issues of people's livelihood, housing is the most serious, intractable and complicated issue, but at the same time it is the issue that citizens most expect the current government to solve with innovative thinking and drastic measures. The spike has both external and internal causes. This administration is determined and will do its best to reverse this.”
Under the epidemic, the income of subdivided housing households has been greatly reduced, and life has become more difficult.
(file picture)
The government's 2018 policy address also mentioned that "health care is the livelihood issue that citizens are most concerned about after housing."
Zhou Yongxin, an emeritus professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong, said in a document last year that the deep-seated problems recognized in Hong Kong mainly include: housing difficulties for citizens, small indoor space; serious aging population, and insecurity of citizens’ retirement life; workers’ income low and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.
Last year (2021), according to a survey conducted by the “Subdivided Housing” Rent Control Research Working Group, there were 100,000 subdivided housing units in Hong Kong, with more than 226,000 people living in them. .
Public housing is hard to come by, with the average waiting time for applicants extending to 6.1 years by the end of 2021.
The application deadline for the new phase of HOS was late last month. The Housing Authority received about 251,000 forms in total, with an average of about 28 people competing for one group.
The international research agency Demographia released a new report on the affordability of property prices in global cities this year. Hong Kong has ranked first in the world’s most unaffordable property market for 12 consecutive years, with a median property price to median household income ratio of 23.2 times. That is equivalent to not eating or drinking for 23.2 years to afford a residential unit.
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's promise to "have determination and will do her best to turn this situation around" became history when she left the government.
Housing is the basic element of life for Hong Kong citizens. If you cannot live comfortably and cannot live and work in peace and contentment, the vision and policies of the Hong Kong government will not be supported and trusted by Hong Kong citizens.
Carrie Lam visited the transitional housing project operated by Lok Sin Tong in Kowloon.
(Photo by the Information Services Department)
In terms of medical care, the 2015 "Hospital Authority Review Steering Committee Report" discussed the main challenges faced by the HA, namely the ageing population, rising medical costs, manpower shortage, long waiting time, and the public's responsibility towards the HA. High expectations for public healthcare providers.
During the fifth round of the epidemic and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus, Hong Kong medical staff were under great pressure. Some citizens were unable to seek medical treatment. Patients had to be kept outside the hospital. Patients in the A&E room coexisted with corpses, and corpses in the mortuary had to be piled up together. It reflects that the government has not made great efforts to avoid major risks or crises since the outbreak of the epidemic, and the public medical system is on the verge of "burst".
Hong Kong's "rich-poor gap" problem is "serious". In the "2021 World Competitiveness Annual Report" published by the International Management Institute of Lausanne, Switzerland, Hong Kong ranks 48 out of 64 economic systems, showing that Hong Kong's wealth disparity is in 64 economic systems. still in the top third.
It can be seen that the serious income inequality in Hong Kong is an indisputable fact. The government is the provider of public services, the mediator of the allocation of public resources, and the manager of the redistribution of social resources. Fairness and improving people's well-being are duty-bound.
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