Politics

China’s five-year plan responds to “great changes unseen in a century”, prescient words used by President Xi Jinping since 2018. Chinese policymakers have anticipated headwinds in the world system, underscored by the upending of the “rules-based world order” by US President Donald Trump’s “law of the jungle” and a world increasingly threatened by climate change.Recent China-US summits notwithstanding, great-power rivalry is likely to remain for a fairly long time, fragmenting trade, technological flows, supply chains and geopolitics. However, opportunities are opening up for cutting-edge technologies and closer relations with the larger world, including Europe and the Global South.The 15th five-year plan focuses on high-quality development with moderate but stable growth; technological sel...

The Hong Kong government has launched a public consultation on the city’s first five-year development plan, a blueprint aimed at aligning with China’s newly approved 15th five-year plan. Officials have promised a “macroscopic, strategic and forward-looking” road map that will guide Hong Kong’s economic and social development for the rest of this decade.That invitation to think in five-year horizons is precisely why Hong Kong must now think bigger about its place in the world – not only as “Asia’s world city” but as a serious contender to become Asia’s multilateral hub.A quiet but profound shift is under way in the architecture of global governance. It is not the product of a grand design but of a vacuum.The United States, long the anchor of the multilateral system, is stepping back at a sp...

Hong Kong is determined to expand into new markets while consolidating ties with traditional partners and “will not give up any markets” despite geopolitical pressures, the city leader has said.In an interview with the South China Morning Post reviewing his past four years in office, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the United States remained an important market for Hong Kong despite volatile relations between Beijing and Washington, while also stressing the interactions would mostly be business-to-business.Conceding that Hong Kong, as an open economy, was exposed to global turmoil, Lee stressed the complex geopolitical situation would only highlight the city’s clear edge as a “safe, stable and secure society” for investors.“I will not allow external factors to change the fundamental ...

The recent enactment of a subsidiary legislation in Hong Kong regarding the appropriate procedure to be followed in cases of non-national security offences involving national security considerations not surprisingly spurred some to revisit the chief executive’s power, granted under the national security law in 2020, to issue a certificate as to whether an act involves issues of national security.That some people express concern that such an important task is left to the executive and not the judiciary is understandable only because they have failed to understand the governing rationale behind this distinction.Many common law jurisdictions accept that the court is not an appropriate forum to determine matters of national security. Note that I am referring to national security issues and NOT...

Hong Kong authorities have hit out at The Washington Post for making “groundless allegations” about amendments to the city’s home-grown national security law in an editorial, while stressing that foreign businesses have no cause for concern.The government issued a statement late on Saturday night in response to the American newspaper’s piece titled “Hong Kong’s nightmare gets darker”.The editorial described as “repressive” the introduction of a mechanism under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance that allows the city leader to classify legal cases as national security ones.The government said the subsidiary legislation gazetted last week only aimed to clarify “other offences endangering national security” under the relevant legislation and to offer more certainty in their implement...

Two big issues are bubbling up over Hong Kong’s army of foreign domestic helpers. The whole community will have to sit down and decide how to address them. The first is the availability of places for helpers to congregate safely and freely on their days off without putting too much stress on public facilities, other residents and tourists. The second is figuring out how to provide an acceptable working environment inside the home during hot summer months.Two underlying trends are adding to the complexity and severity of the problems. One is sheer numbers, the other is the increasing impact of climate change.Given the robust improvement in Hong Kong’s economy since the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of foreign domestic helpers in the city is moving steadily back towards the 2019 peak of 399,...

Exclusive: The John Lee interview

Why do some governments consistently turn long-term goals into visible results while others struggle to move beyond policy announcements? The answer often lies not in ideology and planning but in governance: the ability to identify priorities, coordinate action and sustain implementation.As the Hong Kong government begins a public consultation on its first five-year plan, that question deserves careful attention.The challenge is not simply identifying problems. It is mustering the political will and building the capacity to overcome them.Ultimately, citizens judge governments by the results they deliver. Can people find affordable, decent housing? Can young people see opportunities for upward mobility? Can businesses operate with confidence? Can communities feel their concerns being addres...

The Hong Kong government has appointed a former deputy police commissioner to lead the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.Albert Yuen Yuk-kin would lead the department following his retirement from the force, where over 37 years he rose to the rank of deputy commissioner of operations, the government said on Monday.The department post is one of two high-level official positions filled through an open recruitment announced in February. Along with the director of information services role, both appointments have gone to individuals with police backgrounds.The move is reportedly part of the city’s ongoing civil service reforms.Yuen joined the force in 1986 as an inspector. He was assigned to various crime investigation units in the 1980s and 1990s, dealing with rampant armed robbery at...

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs began a two-day visit on Tuesday with inspections of key projects across the city, focusing on housing, technology and Northern Metropolis developments.Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, kicked off his study tour with a briefing led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, attended by Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and selected members of the establishment, including the city’s property tycoonsXia greeted residents at a light public housing project on Yau Pok Road in Yuen Long in the morning, accompanied by Lee and Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin.The project falls under a scheme providing 30,000 government-built temporary flats for families who have waited at least three year...