Now Hong Kong must get back to the basics of solving livelihood issues
Lau Ping Cheung says Hong Kong must now set aside political strife and refocus on the economy and livelihoods
When President Xi Jinping first announced his vision for an "economic belt along the Silk Road" on a visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013, the world listened, for the plan would conjoin the New Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road, spanning more than 60 economies with an estimated total gross domestic product of US$22 trillion.
Meanwhile, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with an initial paid-up capital of US$100 billion, is expected to help fund the massive infrastructure needs of the Asia-Pacific region. With four pilot free trade zones already up and running (in Shanghai, Tianjin , Fujian and Guangdong), the 13th five-year plan starting next year, and the backing of a US$40 billion Silk Road Fund, China is welcoming the "new normal" with a slew of new initiatives and opportunities.
So much is happening on the mainland right now, yet it boggles the mind how little of it is being felt and talked about in Hong Kong, one of the key nodes in the ancient trading routes.
Instead, as economic opportunities galore beckon, Hong Kong is bogged down with disputes centred on political reform.
History has shown us, time and again, that a society split by political struggle or internal conflict will see its economy spiral downwards. The political turmoil that engulfed China in the three decades before the establishment of the People's Republic, and which continued to dog the communist government for years after, resulted in barely any economic growth. Similarly in Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Egypt and Iraq, political upheaval has gone hand in hand with economic stagnation.
Hong Kong's economic performance has also been worrying. In 1997, its GDP was 20 per cent of mainland China's. Last year, it was just 3 per cent. Our economic growth has averaged less than 4 per cent since the handover, compared to Singapore's 6 per cent and close to 10 per cent for Shenzhen during the same period. In the mid-1990s, GDP per capita for Singapore and Hong Kong was each about US$25,000, but the former is now more than US$55,000 whereas ours is only about US$40,000.