Hong Kong’s leader has vowed his team will be “reformers” who rise to challenges rather than become “complacent idlers”, pledging to seize development opportunities to let the city showcase “the certainties of safety and stability” the world needs in the face of geopolitical tensions, as he enters his fourth year in office.
In a speech to mark the 28th anniversary of the city’s handover to Chinese rule on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu laid down three governance priorities: boosting development backed by security; expediting the Northern Metropolis megaproject near the border with mainland China; and improving residents’ livelihoods.
The day’s celebrations began with a flag-raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square in the morning, followed by a reception where Lee gave the keynote address.
Throughout the day, residents and tourists took advantage of free museum visits, complimentary transport rides and discounted meals as part of the government-coordinated festivities. Authorities also adorned the city with 130,000 decorations, including national and city flags.
But some residents chose to spend the public holiday in Shenzhen, disappointing some restaurants in Hong Kong.
In his speech, Lee reaffirmed his determination to undertake reforms, pledging to fully seize opportunities to demonstrate “the certainties of safety and stability” that the world needed.
He cited a Chinese saying that described a hard task becoming easy through determined effort and an easy task growing difficult due to inaction.
“We would rather be reformers who rise to challenges than become complacent idlers,” Lee said at a reception held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
“Amid an ever-changing geopolitical landscape and constantly increasing uncertainties, Hong Kong is able to showcase exactly to the world the certainties of safety, stability and development opportunities. These are precisely what the world needs and seeks.”
Hong Kong had been “a place where national and global opportunities converge”, he said, adding that the chances available to Hong Kong still outweighed the challenges it faced amid economic restructuring, thanks to the advantages of the “one country, two systems” governing principle.
“As long as we are determined to fully seize the opportunities, keep enhancing our value and competitiveness, undertake reforms for progress and foster innovation, I am confident the wisdom and experience of the people of Hong Kong will help our ‘Pearl of the Orient’ shine brighter than ever on the world stage,” Lee said.
Elaborating on his three priorities, Lee vowed to safeguard “high-quality development” with “high-level security”, stressing the city would remain vigilant in safeguarding national security and fully seize national opportunities as it fostered economic growth.
The government would also help companies upgrade their operations and expand in domestic and overseas markets, as well as introduce new technologies and industries to consolidate Hong Kong’s position as an international financial, shipping and trade centre, he said.
“We will deepen international exchanges and cooperation, explore new markets and opportunities, bolster the provision of extensive supply chain services, and expand and strengthen regional trade with the aim of offsetting the risk of over-reliance on a single market in business trade,” Lee said.
Lee also pledged to speed up the development of the Northern Metropolis, a project near the border with the mainland that aims to turn 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres) of land in the northern New Territories into an economic powerhouse and housing hub.
“By introducing new concepts and new methods, removing potential barriers and leveraging market forces, we aim to enhance the speed and efficiency of developing the Northern Metropolis, the San Tin Technopole and the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone,” he said.
The government would focus on attracting top scientific research talent from around the world in a bid to promote the city as a hub for high-calibre talent, he added.
Lee also said his administration would in the coming years “proactively” improve Hongkongers’ livelihoods in areas such as housing, health, education, welfare and overall quality of life, while pressing ahead with various railway projects.
“We will remain committed to the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation, focusing on directing resources to those most in need,” he said.
Looking back on his three years in office, the city leader said he had built a “result-oriented” government and “rebuilt a safe Hong Kong” by enacting the domestic national security law.
He also said his team had attracted more than 210,000 high-quality migrants and 84 strategic enterprises to Hong Kong, enhanced the competitiveness of the financial sector and shortened the waiting time for public housing by more than nine months to 5.3 years, among other achievements.
The event at the convention centre was also attended by the central government’s top representatives in the city, including new liaison office director Zhou Ji, Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security head Dong Jingwei, and Cui Jianchun – the nation’s top diplomat in Hong Kong.
Police ramped up security at the site, as well as at some major tourist spots and in commercial districts.
Other celebratory events included two major horse races at the Sha Tin Racecourse, which also featured live music, a fishing boat parade in Victoria Harbour and a fun run with participants carrying national and city flags.
Since last Saturday, Lee has highlighted “reforms” in all his speeches and social media posts marking the city’s handover.
Over the weekend, he posted two videos on social media, both using a metaphor “from a cocoon to a butterfly” to underline the importance of seeking reforms. On Monday, he pledged to strive to reform for a more prosperous Hong Kong in a speech.
On the same occasion on Monday, Zhou urged Hong Kong to further embrace reforms to broaden its economy.
On Tuesday, Mao Ning, the spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted two photos on X: one showing masked protesters brandishing umbrellas to shield themselves from tear gas in the 2019 protests and another dated 2025 showing national and city flags hanging between commercial buildings.
She wrote that Hong Kong was “headed to a brighter future of stability and prosperity”. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
