This year's National Day is similar to the Double Ninth Festival. It was originally the Golden Week holiday, but it was as lively as in the past when a large number of tourists traveled to and from the Mainland and Hong Kong.
However, under the epidemic prevention and control measures, this situation has not been seen for the third consecutive year.
In addition to the difficulties in business exchanges, many cross-border families are also difficult to reunite due to customs clearance problems. Many citizens and Hong Kong drifters have not been able to return to their hometowns due to the epidemic.
There is no deadline for customs clearance with the mainland. Last week, Hong Kong canceled the quarantine on entry from other places. There are discussions in the community whether this means that the government has abandoned the plan.
Regarding this two-choice question, the Director of the Medical and Health Bureau, Lu Chongmao, recently reiterated that the mainland is a family and the world is a career. There should be no contradiction between the two, and the customs clearance of both will not be given up, but Hong Kong cannot affect the mainland's epidemic prevention, just as in Develop your career while protecting your family.
2022 is the 25th National Day that Hong Kong has celebrated since its return.
The picture shows the National Day Flag Raising Ceremony on the morning of October 1.
It is true that the mainland is like a family in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, which is backed by the motherland, has a national emotional connection with the mainland.
But the mainland is also a business of Hong Kong and a business partner.
The mainland is Hong Kong's largest trading partner, which has also boosted Hong Kong's status.
It is not just that Hong Kong wants to protect the mainland in epidemic prevention, the mainland family has been supporting Hong Kong's development all the time.
The indispensable reason why Hong Kong can develop into today's international financial center is that Hong Kong has the function of connecting the mainland and the world.
Just think, if international companies don't see Hong Kong as an important springboard for entering the mainland market, how can they set up their Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong?
And the International Financial Leaders Investment Summit to be held early next month, how could it be possible to invite nearly 200 financial leaders from all over the world?
Mainland and international are not contradictory
The metaphor of family and career points out the focus of Hong Kong's relationship between the country and the world. Hong Kong needs to be able to take care of both in order to play its true character and role.
However, many Hong Kong people have a deep-rooted misconception about this.
As early as before the epidemic, when Hong Kong and the mainland were unimpeded, conflicts such as Occupy Central and the anti-amendment laws also occurred.
The nativism of Hong Kong society in the past was a narrow nativism, which put the mainland and Hong Kong on opposite sides.
When one thinks that the mainland is bound to exclude the mainland, it is not surprising to describe the mainland and the world as "fish and bear's paw".
It seems that Hong Kong can only "choose one of the two" between the two. To be close to the Mainland means to be far away from the international community, which makes Hong Kong people mistakenly think that if Hong Kong maintains close relations with the Mainland, they must give up international relations and cut off from the world.
In 2015, the mainland proposed the development of the Greater Bay Area, and Hong Kong people interpreted it as Hong Kong’s intention to give up its relationship with the world and only do business with the mainland.
These voices have repeatedly emphasized that being too close to the Mainland will make Hong Kong the same as the general Mainland cities, and then Hong Kong will lose the international market.
In recent years, the international situation has changed dramatically, and the alternative thinking is even worse.
During the turmoil against the amendment bill in 2019, the chairman of the Civic Party Liang Jiajie once said that Hong Kong is "a member of the liberal and democratic camp", and believes that the deep-seated contradictions in Hong Kong are only "the struggle between the liberal democratic model and the Chinese model", which is obviously also affected by this dualism. Influence of Opposition.
Under the big pattern of Sino-US wrestling, the US wants to sanction Hong Kong, and Hong Kong needs to protect national security.
The United States has blocked the export of high-end chips and other technologies to China, and restricted American investors from investing in China, which has further contributed to the belief that Hong Kong must choose between the mainland and international relations.
Relations with the mainland and the world are important to Hong Kong as an international financial centre.
(file picture)
Even aside from the wrestling of great powers, customs clearance under the epidemic that has nothing to do with politics has caused many people to fall into the trap of binary choices.
The mainland still adopts a relatively strict epidemic prevention model. Hong Kong's epidemic prevention degree is more relaxed than that of the mainland. Therefore, it will first open up to the international community and launch the "0+3" plan of immunity from quarantine.
Although most Hong Kong people welcome this, according to some surveys, there are still some people who do not want to switch. For example, a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Research Association in the middle of last month showed that nearly 31% of the public still do not support the cancellation of quarantine hotels. And only 29% believe that "reverse isolation" can meet the needs of Hong Kong people returning to the mainland.
This is probably because some people have begun to blame the inability to clear customs with the mainland as soon as possible in order to clear the customs first, and only emphasize the ties between Hong Kong and the mainland, and do not cherish Hong Kong's international relations.
Give full play to the characteristics of Hong Kong and build a bridge between China and foreign countries
But as Chief Executive Li Jiachao said, Hong Kong is a bridge between China and foreign countries, and should play the role of connecting overseas channels for the country.
To achieve this, Hong Kong cannot choose only one between the Mainland and the international community, but must take into account both.
Although the Sino-US wrestling and customs clearance difficulties are difficult to change for a while, they are not insurmountable. What matters is how Hong Kong people should look down on their position in connecting the world and the mainland.
Taking customs clearance as an example, although it is impossible for Hong Kong to immediately restore the mainland and international transit conditions to the pre-epidemic situation, the two are not necessarily in conflict.
Hong Kong's opening to the world is obviously due to the acquiescence of the central government, and Hong Kong's experience in opening up can also serve as a reference for the mainland in the future.
Moreover, Hong Kong can also make efforts in both directions at the same time.
We have advocated taking the initiative to propose to the mainland, making good use of the current "yellow code" system to replace some of the requirements of centralized isolation, so that those who intend to return to the mainland can take the initiative to accept restrictions in exchange for them to go through customs and return to the mainland more easily, such as reducing isolation. number of days.
If this plan is successful, Hong Kong can be used as a barrier to enter the mainland, attracting more people to enter the mainland through Hong Kong, and it can also give full play to the uniqueness of Hong Kong.
And under the big pattern of Sino-US wrestling, Hong Kong does not have to choose to give up international commerce and trade.
The United States and even Western countries have not yet fully decoupled from China economically. There is still room for Hong Kong to serve as a bridge between China and the West.
It can even be said that the more intense the dispute between China and the US is, the more Hong Kong needs to play its special status.
For example, in terms of auditing of listed companies, both China and the United States have agreed to allow US auditors to review the audit papers of Chinese companies in Hong Kong. It is reported that the relevant work is in full swing in Central recently, which fully reflects the special status of Hong Kong.
In addition, the so-called international is not limited to the United States. In recent years, the focus of global economic growth has shifted eastward to Asia. It is an indisputable fact that many Asian countries have also participated in China’s “One Belt, One Road” development plan. Hong Kong should also focus on future economic exchanges. The focus of development has gradually shifted to countries related to the “Belt and Road” initiative, seeking international opportunities outside the United States and the West.
Li Jiachao pointed out that Hong Kong is a bridge between China and foreign countries, and should play the role of connecting overseas channels for the country.
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This year marks the 25th National Day that Hong Kong has celebrated since its return.
In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2019, both the central government and the Hong Kong government have emphasized the need to do a good job in patriotic education, which makes people return.
On National Day, Li Jiachao reminded the public that the concept of the country and national security are of paramount importance to Hong Kong, and young people should also be trained in this regard.
Patriotic education is very important, but at the same time, we should also convey to Hong Kong people the relationship between Hong Kong, the mainland and the world.
Hong Kong and the Mainland belong to the same country and have inseparable emotional and business exchanges, but being patriotic does not mean that Hong Kong should be self-isolating or exclusive.
Just as patriots can work in foreign companies, travel abroad, or buy foreign brands.
This may be more effective than monotonous propaganda of patriotism.
[01 Weekly Editorial] The Mainland and Hong Kong must break the barrier and alienate the Sino-US audit agreement to highlight Hong Kong's special role [01 Editorial] Action is not enough for governance, and the core of value is to start from "seeing" and continue to question Hong Kong｜Yu Pinhai