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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam vows to restore social and constitutional order as well as revive ailing economy
- Having postponed her annual policy address by over a month, Carrie Lam faced heightened public expectations as she delivered a speech lasting more than two hours
- Lam places her full faith in mainland China’s support for cross-border initiatives to help lift Hong Kong out of its current impasse
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Hong Kong’s leader unveiled a lengthy policy blueprint on Wednesday aimed at urgently rebuilding confidence in a city beset by political turmoil and financial uncertainty, promising to restore social and constitutional order as well as revive the ailing economy.
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Having postponed her annual policy address by over a month to allow more time for consultation with Beijing, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor faced heightened public expectations as she delivered a speech lasting more than two hours titled “Striving Ahead with Renewed Perseverance”.
Lam placed her full faith in mainland China’s support for cross-border initiatives to help lift Hong Kong out of its current impasse, which she stressed would also require public cooperation to achieve “zero infection” at a time when the city faced an escalating fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the first time in the Legislative Council chamber, there were no opposition lawmakers to interrupt her, having all recently quit to protest against the disqualification of four colleagues, as Lam devoted a large part of her speech on politics.
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delivers 2020 policy address
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delivers 2020 policy address
“In the past year or so, Hong Kong has experienced the most severe political challenges since its return to the motherland. One of our urgent priorities is to restore [Hong Kong’s] constitutional order and political system from chaos,” she said, referring to the social unrest and violent protests sparked by her now-withdrawn extradition bill.
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“Hong Kong has become an obvious gaping hole in national security and presented significant risks to the country.”
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