Top-tier cities in mainland China are planning to foster commercial space ecosystems of their own. Mainland NewSpace companies are keen to connect to the world through Hong Kong. The city’s government should take note.

The “NewSpace” industry is passing Hong Kong by when the city has such capacity to fund and manage it, incubate talent and tech and help set up much-needed global regulations to deal with space debris.

The US company has been ferrying crew to the International Space Station and conducted test flights of the most powerful rocket ever built. The risk-taking mentalities and deep pockets of the new space oligarchs are now a force to reckon with in space exploration.

Even as Chinese space exploration takes off, the recent policy address is strangely silent on how the space sector can contribute to Hong Kong. This is disappointing because ground-to-sky sensing technologies, for instance, would serve the city, including the Northern Metropolis, well.

China has made great leaps into space but the industry is still not mainstream in the consciousness of Hong Kong’s decision-makers, entrepreneurs and the public. The city must get ready to seize the opportunities.

A controlled, fairly managed global population fall is essential to our long-term survival. Hong Kong, with the world’s longest life expectancy and one of its lowest birth rates, can lead the way in sustainability policies

While concerns about Covid-19 and social unrest have largely eased, negative reports persist about the city’s freedoms and judicial independence. Rather than wait for a return to the good old days, officials must work to ease the fears of those considering a move to Hong Kong.

With winter in the Southern hemisphere now hotter than summer in Northern hemisphere and the Antarctic up to 40 degrees warmer, the time to act is now.

Despite the distraction of a host of other challenges, China has implemented a wide range of projects to tackle its own carbon footprint head-on, with an approach that is multifaceted, technology-focused and scalable.

The inclusion in the mission of a civilian payload specialist who had studied in Canada signals China’s plans for peaceful and scientific exploration of space. Reports of further expansion of the Tiangong space station and the prospect of space tourism suggests the sky is the limit for China’s space programme.

Neither talking up war over Taiwan nor talking down peace in Ukraine is what the world needs. Instead of blind faith in traditional media, we must cultivate clear, scientific thinking.

Regulatory oversight of increasingly powerful AI technology is urgently needed, and Hong Kong, with its world-class universities and trusted regulatory infrastructure, can be a global leader.

Some have misunderstood the plan as involving nuclear-armed submarines; others that it amounts to nuclear proliferation. The greater concerns are the eye-watering costs to the Australian taxpayer, the unhelpful political messaging from the commentariat and the significant environmental considerations.

Oil companies’ record profits for 2022 give them a chance to pivot faster away from fossil fuels to renewables. At a time when public opinion and political pressure are turning against them, they must seize that opportunity.

That China’s space programme will launch a recruitment drive in Hong Kong can inspire society, including its academic, business and technology elites, to prioritise STEM education. With government support, Hong Kong can carve out a space in the trillion-dollar global space economy.

Amid Covid-19 fatigue and brain drain, Hong Kong is losing a tsunami of talent to the rest of the world. Home-grown talent and professionals from the Greater Bay Area are no substitute for what is available from a global talent reservoir. Something fundamental needs to shift here – and on the mainland.

The images from the James Webb telescope have energised the scientific community. Meanwhile, China’s space programme is making rapid progress, and its Xuntian telescope, with its massive field of vision, could find synergies with the US facility.

To safeguard Hong Kong’s value as a global finance, trade and transport nexus, it must reverse the loss of people with the expertise, experience and international connections vital to the city’s financial and entrepreneurial health.

Every renewable energy source must be aggressively pursued, be it wind, solar, hydro, tidal or geothermal. Nuclear power has long had bad press, but the urgency of the climate crisis and its safety relative to other power sources make it worth another look.

No response has been perfect, but while Hong Kong once led the way in containing Covid-19, it now trails far behind other major economies in its vaccination rate. Despite the challenge, it’s up to us to find a balanced approach that does the least damage to lives, jobs, mental health, industry and reputation.