On the eve of a new round of talks in Washington that carry hopes of an end to the trade war, two events in Hong Kong shed light on the way ahead for China, even with the legacy of problems in relations with the United States over trade and the Huawei 5G affair.
The South China Morning Post’s annual
China conference provided a sounding board for reaction to the unveiling on Tuesday of Beijing’s blueprint for the “
Greater Bay Area” (GBA) project to integrate Hong Kong and other southern cities into an economic powerhouse. The conference was followed by a symposium on the GBA addressed by a top Beijing official and Hong Kong’s chief executive, among others.
The event looked at China’s opening up over the past 40 years and what lies ahead for the next 40. In contrast with the previous conference in
Kuala Lumpur in October, a sense of foreboding over the trade war was overtaken by a more sober assessment. This is that Sino-US rivalry and American attempts to thwart China’s technological advances are a bigger worry in the longer term.
As we have reported elsewhere, a key member from a top think tank for the leadership, Xie Maosong, predicted a
trade deal in which Beijing would reduce the imbalance but resist pressure to make major economic reforms. Relations between the two countries would never be the same again. As if to reflect this, the question of what China can do to move on is more of a theme now than hand-wringing over the trade dispute. In this respect a number of speakers commented positively on the GBA’s potential for Hong Kong as well as the mainland. Importantly for both, the GBA vision rests on the idea of Hong Kong remaining a free economy under “one country, two systems” – an assurance on business for the rest of the world.
Some speakers suggested how Hong Kong could provide capital and intellectual weight for the GBA, while the mainland offered the market space to test and commercialise research originating here. Opposition lawmakers have fretted about integration eroding the one country, two systems concept and the city’s freedoms. Lin Nianxiu, vice-chairman of the high-powered National Development and Reform Commission, addressed their concerns by saying that respect for one country, two systems as well as the city’s autonomy would be key principles behind the central government’s implementation of the GBA plan.
The sentiment arising from the conference and the symposium is that China has developed the strength to sustain its rise despite the weight of baggage in its relations with the US, and that with vision such as the GBA it can find new areas of success. It may have to adapt to a faster pace of structural change to meet US demands, but in the end it knows what is best for its own system.
