City BeatThe furthest distance between ‘one country’ and ‘two systems’

‘One country, two systems’ may be hailed as the best governing formula for Hong Kong, but the chance of forging a consensus on a mutually agreeable definition of it is getting slimmer

But a meeting point must be identified through rebuilding mutual trust between Hong Kong and Beijing, and the onus is on Carrie Lam

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Mutual trust must be rebuilt between Hong Kong and Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:40pm, 22 Dec 2019Updated: 8:00pm, 22 Dec 2019

What can a slip of the tongue mean? A reasonable guess is it comes from something weighing deep in someone’s mind.

That might have been the case with President Xi Jinping while he was delivering his speech in Macau last week after officiating at the inauguration ceremony of its next administration.

At one point, he said the words “Hong Kong” instead of “Macau” as he was summarising the successful example set by the small city-turned-booming casino hub in its 20 years’ practice of the “one country, two systems” governing principle.

But President Xi surely had an important message for Hong Kong, including the four expectations he put forward to Macau, all applicable to our Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as well: to keep abreast of the times to elevate governance; to be innovative for sustainable economic development; to improve people’s well-being; and to be inclusive and to promote social harmony and stability.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and (right) Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a ceremony to inaugurate the next administration of the Macau Special Administrative Region and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the casino hub’s return to China, in Macau on December 20. Photo: Reuters

And it was Xi’s emphasis on Beijing’s determination to stick to the special governing formula for the two special administrative regions that touched on the crux of the issue in Hong Kong.