Tsang spells out economic philosophy
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen defended his position on 'positive non-interventionism' yesterday, saying the government must adapt to a changing economy.
But critics said the statement, published today in the South China Morning Post, raised more questions than it answered.
The clarification of his position came after Mr Tsang said last week the policy - long hailed as a pillar of Hong Kong's success - was not a blueprint for the city's economic development. His comments raised eyebrows among free-market advocates and prompted Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, among others, to ask whether there had been a drastic change in the government's economic philosophy.
Yesterday, Mr Tsang said he subscribed to the same commitment to 'open competition, free market and small government' that former financial secretary Sir Philip Haddon-Cave had in 1980 when he formulated the policy of 'positive non-interventionism'.
But his explanation puzzled Ms Eu who said the key question - whether there is any change in philosophy - remained unanswered.
'He says times have changed and therefore we need to change, but then he says there is really no difference,' she said.
'He is saying the government can and will intervene when a sector can sustain itself but not saying how the sector will be chosen, what criteria will be used, how the intervention will be carried out.'
Francis Lui Ting-ming, an economics professor from the University of Science and Technology, said Mr Tsang's examples of government intervention - the MTR Corp privatisation and the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with the mainland - were irrelevant and evasive.
