Hongkongers should respect Chinese Communist Party, take advantage of country’s ‘historic opportunities’ to avoid regrets, top state official in city says
- Liaison office head Luo Huining gave 45-minute speech at session organised by 40 pro-establishment political parties, business groups, community bodies
- He urges residents to fight any challenges to protect the nation’s sovereignty
Beijing’s top representative in Hong Kong has urged residents to respect the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership and take advantage of the “historic opportunities” offered by the country’s development to avoid regrets.
Luo Huining, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, on Thursday also called on residents to be “combative” and fight any challenges to protect the nation’s sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as the city’s long-term prosperity.
He met 120 officials at government headquarters on Wednesday, before attending a session on Thursday jointly organised by about 40 pro-establishment political parties, business groups and community bodies. Both events were aimed at studying the spirit of the party’s recent 20th national congress.
During his 45-minute speech, Luo said China had entered a new era of development after the congress.
“Hong Kong should strive to study and find out more about the opportunities, take action to grab them, and in turn create new opportunities for itself,” he said.
Luo cited the Cantonese phrase “After leaving Suzhou, one will find it hard to get a boat ride” about seizing opportunities that references an ancient canal town near Shanghai, where people relied on boats rather than other forms of transport to conduct business. He stressed that Hong Kong residents “should absolutely not let the historic opportunities become a historic regret”.
He added that Hong Kong had achieved a major transition from chaos to order and had reached a stage where it was advancing from stability to prosperity, but residents should stay prepared for challenges and overcome them.
“The successful implementation of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle is also a process of fighting problems,” Luo told the 200-strong audience.
He said Hong Kong’s “Lion Rock spirit” involved uniting together to overcome difficulties and build a better city to contribute to its long-term prosperity and stability as well as the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
Luo also said residents should respect and safeguard the leadership of the Communist Party and the fundamental system of the country, a core part of the 20th national congress, a concept he reiterated during the closed-door meeting on Wednesday.
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The afternoon briefing on Wednesday at Tamar was attended by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, representatives from the judiciary, lawmakers and members of the Executive Council, Lee’s key advisory body. Luo said at the event the city would reap “huge development dividends” and be the envy of other economies with mainland China’s steadfast support.
“The world is increasingly inseparable from China. Hong Kong’s unique advantages of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world will only become more prominent,” Luo was quoted as saying according to a statement released by the liaison office hours after the closed-door session.
“Hong Kong will be the envy of other similar economies, as [the motherland] will continue to bring huge development dividends to Hong Kong.”
He told attendees that the mention of the “one country, two systems” principle in the report by President Xi Jinping “carried the most weight”, highlighting the importance of the governing policy in the work of the party and the country.
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Luo also reiterated the office’s support for Lee and his administration, describing the chief executive as “the first person responsible for governing Hong Kong”. The city’s leader and two other officials also spoke at the session.
Luo urged attendees to step up work to enhance people’s confidence in Beijing’s development path and in one country, two systems.
On July 2, Luo spoke in a seminar at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, highlighting that Xi’s visit to the city despite the Covid-19 pandemic reflected the great importance the president attached to Hong Kong, as well as his deep care and concern for compatriots.
