Hong Kong chief executive election candidate John Lee says in manifesto he wants to focus on ‘reopening border with mainland China, improving international ties’
- Former No 2 official John Lee will unveil his manifesto at 11am on Friday, with event to include a 30-minute speech and question and answer session
- He will only focus on overall policy direction, concept and vision, so he will not provide any timeline on when quarantine-free travel to mainland China can be achieved, sources say
The city’s former No 2 official will unveil his manifesto during a press conference at 11am on Friday at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre. The event, consisting of a 30-minute speech and question and answer session, will be broadcast live on television and streamed via his Facebook channel.
Lee will only focus on an overall policy direction, concept and vision, so he will not provide any timeline on when quarantine-free travel to the mainland can be achieved, according to sources.
Four of his other manifesto highlights will cover housing, youth development, benefits for the elderly and help for working mothers, and he will also endorse a government restructuring plan first proposed by incumbent leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
“There will be more policies to help working mothers, including increasing daycare facilities and providing more support to families,” an insider said.
On youth development, Lee will suggest pouring in more resources to help young people develop and to increase their upward mobility, while more benefits and facilities will be provided for senior citizens.
On housing, sources earlier said a special task force would be set up in the new government overseeing interdepartmental coordination to speed up the acquisition of land and compress building programmes to boost supply in the short term.
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But unlike previous leaders, Lee will not set hard targets such as building a certain number of homes each year or reducing the average waiting time for public rental flats. He will also consider allowing public flat tenants to move into new blocks earlier.
Insiders added that Lee would also push ahead with the Northern Metropolis plan and the Lantau Tomorrow Vision project.
Since Wednesday night, Lee has posted many of his thoughts on policy direction on Facebook.
Lee said he understood resuming cross-border travel with the mainland was important for many Hongkongers. He said that he believed through candid communication, Hong Kong officials and their mainland counterparts could come up with a plan even though their working models were different.
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“We strive to gradually resume cross-border travel under the condition of controllable risks,” he wrote.
“In addition to connecting with the mainland, we also need to rebuild and strengthen international ties. I think we must tell the story of Hong Kong. When the pandemic situation improves, officials and social leaders should go overseas and to the mainland to preach Hong Kong’s advantages and opportunities.”
In another post, Lee put “Hong Kong is my home” as the theme, saying he hoped “Hong Kong and people’s livelihood can return to normal as soon as possible”.
He wrote: “I fully agree with the need to unite all sectors in society and we should solve problems together. We are all in the same family. We need to communicate and understand each other more, brainstorm ideas, and continue to improve Hong Kong.”
