Grab opportunities offered by China’s development blueprint or be left behind, former Hong Kong leader CY Leung warns
- Even some poor and remote areas on the mainland are thriving a lot more than certain parts of Hong Kong, Leung says
- He adds that young Hongkongers should cross the border more to witness for themselves the country’s development
Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has urged the city’s residents to seize opportunities brought about by the country’s development blueprint for the next five years, warning this could be their last chance to catch up with mainland China.
Leung, now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, also said even some poor and remote areas on the mainland were thriving a lot more than certain parts of Hong Kong. He sounded the call on Monday at a seminar on China’s 14th five-year plan. The blueprint was endorsed in March by the country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress.
“The opportunities that are offered in the next five years, I can honestly say, could probably be the last such offers for Hong Kong people,” Leung told the seminar, organised by the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong.
“It is partly because of the incidents in the past two years, and also because of the high speed development of the mainland,” added Leung, suggesting Hong Kong’s progress had been dragged down by the social unrest and coronavirus pandemic, further widening the gap between both places.
I visited the New Territories yesterday and it was not even comparable to things in the poor and remote areas of the country
He said he had travelled to many rural parts of the country and found they were all beautiful and organised. “I visited the New Territories yesterday and it was not even comparable to things in the poor and remote areas of the country,” Leung added.