President Xi Jinping attended the inauguration ceremony of the new SAR government this morning (July 1) and delivered an important speech.
He emphasized that "one country, two systems" is a good system that must be adhered to for a long time. He also raised four points of hope for the new government, hoping to improve governance standards, effectively solve the problems of people's livelihood, and jointly maintain harmony and stability.
"Hong Kong 01" compares Jiang Zemin's 1997, Hu Jintao's 2012 and 2022 Xi Jinping's three-term presidents' speeches at the handover celebration, and found that the object of greetings (title) has changed.
Among them, Jiang Zemin had a dialogue with "Hong Kong compatriots" at the handover celebration in 1997, Hu Jintao greeted "all Hong Kong residents", and Xi Jinping wrote "sincere greetings to all Hong Kong residents".
Jiang Zemin greeted "Hong Kong compatriots" in his speech on the handover in 1997, Hu Jintao greeted "Hong Kong citizens" in his speech on the 15th anniversary of the handover, and Xi Jinping greeted "Hong Kong residents" in the 25th anniversary of the handover. The article mentioned Hong Kong residents eight times.
"Hong Kong compatriots" are mostly considered to refer to Chinese among Hong Kong permanent residents; Hong Kong citizens and Hong Kong residents generally refer to permanent residents and non-permanent residents living in Hong Kong.
In 1997, Jiang Zemin greeted "Hong Kong compatriots" in his speech at the handover celebration. He mentioned Hong Kong compatriots 13 times in his speech.
However, in his speech that year, there was still a mention of a Hong Kong resident. Jiang Zemin said at the time that "after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, most of the original laws will be retained.
Hong Kong residents enjoy various rights and freedoms in accordance with the law, and everyone is equal before the law.
" The relevant provisions of the International Covenant on Rights and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Labour Convention as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Gradually improve the democratic system suitable for the actual situation of Hong Kong, It is an important guarantee for the social and political stability of Hong Kong. Hong Kong will develop democracy step by step in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law, and ultimately achieve the goal of electing the Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region and the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.”
On the 15th anniversary of the handover, Hu Jintao said, "I extend my sincere greetings to all Hong Kong citizens!" However, the word "citizen" was only used twice in his speech.
Most of them still called "Hong Kong compatriots". They mentioned it three times and called out "Compatriots, friends!" twice. In his speech at the 15th anniversary celebration, Hu Jintao mentioned Hong Kong residents only once, saying that "Hong Kong residents enjoy democracy." Rights and freedoms are broader than at any time in history.”
This year (2022) Xi Jinping first greeted "all Hong Kong residents" in his speech at the handover celebration. In his handover speech, he said that "the democratic system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is in line with the principle of "one country, two systems" and the constitutional status of Hong Kong, which
is conducive to safeguarding the democracy of Hong Kong residents. rights
", "
All residents of the Special Administrative Region
should consciously respect and safeguard the fundamental system of the country", "
Hong Kong is the common home of all residents, and everything is prosperous
. The article mentions the word "resident" eight times.
(Related reading: Full text of Xi Jinping's speech: One country, two systems is a good system, there is no reason to change it, and it must be adhered to for a long time)
However, Xi Jinping also mentioned Hong Kong compatriots many times in his talk this time. The term "Hong Kong compatriots" was mentioned seven times, "Hong Kong and Macao compatriots" was mentioned once, and "compatriots and friends" were called four times.
The 25th Anniversary of the Return of the People's Republic of China｜Xi Jinping left the Mainland for the first time after the epidemic and arrived in Hong Kong, emphasizing that one country, two systems is a good system.
25th Anniversary of the Return