The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs
Anson Chan, GBM, JP, HONG KONG has always been an unlikely place. Born of the China trade in the most dubious circumstances, it was scorned by its colonisers as a 'barren rock' that 'would never become a mart of trade'. This 19th century forecast only goes to show that the perils of political prediction have a long pedigree. But it had its uses, for in a way it may have steeled the inhabitants of Hong Kong to a way of life that was always going to pit them against the odds. It is certainly true that Hong Kong has no natural resources to speak of, save its fabled harbour where huge container ships and other merchantmen from all corners of the globe have found safe haven and an abundant mart of trade between East and West. It used to be said that Hong Kong people lived to trade. The facts of history and geography dictated the opposite — the people of Hong Kong have had to trade to live. If people are the greatest of all natural assets, then Hong Kong provides the case in point. In my lifetime, Hong Kong has had to absorb, house and find jobs for wave upon wave of hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of refugees and immigrants from China, my own family among them. It had to transform itself overnight into a light manufacturing centre in the wake of the embargo on trade with China during the Korean War. Then withstand the shock of the disturbances that rocked Hong Kong to its foundations in the upheavals of the mid-sixties. Two decades ago, it metamorphosed itself overnight into a service economy to embrace Deng Xiaoping's opening up of the Chinese economy. And, more recently, it trod the often tricky path of transition from 156 years of British administration to the resumption of Chinese sovereignty. Quite a journey. In the space of but two generations, Hong Kong has risen from the ashes of the wartime Japanese occupation to become one of the world's great cities, indeed a great world city. As dawn broke on the new millennium, Hong Kong has once again become entrenched in the process of reinventing itself, this time to meet and master the challenges of the Information Age. It is a paradigm shift whose impact on the 21st century and on the way people work, do business, enjoy themselves and go about their daily lives will be as profound as the Industrial Revolution which shaped the 20th century. The name of Bill Gates is bound to become to the new century what Henry Ford's was to the last. With the economy returning to health after the battering of the Asian financial crisis, Hong Kong has thrown itself into the New Economy with typical passion. The Special Administrative Region Government (SARG) and — more importantly — our professionals, businessmen and women and entrepreneurs have recognised the golden opportunities presented by the Internet and the new horizons that it opens up. They are seizing these opportunities with a relish and a determination to make the Information Age work for them. Their goal is clear: they see Hong Kong as Asia's City for the Cyber Century. Hong Kong is gearing up to take its place in a world without walls. The speed and scale of the e-revolution
have been astonishing in Hong Kong. By the end of 1999, there were more than
1.5 million Internet users compared with The opening of a Cyberport on the western shore of Hong Kong Island early in the new millennium will help nurture the development of IT applications, software development and multi-media content. With this hi-tech centre and the Science Park now taking shape in the north-east New Territories, Hong Kong is laying the groundwork to take advantage of the e-revolution, stimulating innovation, and promoting the growth of technology-based industries, not only at home and in the adjoining Mainland market but also in the borderless market place beyond. There is some typical Hong Kong irony to all this. At the time of the Handover, two and a half years ago, there were those ready to write off the fledgling SAR. It was not difficult to detect eerie echoes of those grim predictions made about colonial Hong Kong a century and a half before. The new Jeremiahs have been just as wide of the mark as their Victorian forebears. The forecasts of loss of freedoms, civil liberties, the suppression of democracy and free speech, the curtailment of press freedom and the throttling of the legal system have fallen to the ground with the familiar thud of all false prophecies. Hong Kong remains as free today as it has ever been. What has changed is the shape of our economy. In October 1997, the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, in his inaugural policy address, outlined a bold strategic blueprint for the SAR's future. It included measures to stabilise grossly inflated property prices and major initiatives to promote innovation and technology. However, no sooner had the policy been announced than Hong Kong was hit by the fallout which cascaded in unprecedented force from the Asian financial crisis. In the painful period that followed, Hong Kong suffered the first recession in its recorded history. This brought a plunge in property prices, a rise in unemployment and a deep shock to a community which had grown accustomed — perhaps to the point of complacency — to decade after decade of exponential economic growth. For instance, in the period between 1979 and 1999, Hong Kong's GDP grew at an average annual rate of about 5 per cent. The SAR is the world's ninth largest trading economy, the fifth if you count the EU as a whole. Per capita GDP stands at US$23,200, more than advanced economies such as Canada and Australia. Life expectancy for men (77.2 years) and women (82.6 years) is amongst the highest in the world, and ahead of countries such as Norway, Germany, the US and New Zealand. While acknowledging that the political transition had succeeded, there were those who felt Hong Kong had lost its way and would not be able to recover its legendary economic lustre. Well, as The New York Times once said, nobody ever made any money betting against Hong Kong. The survival and enduring strength of the HK Dollar and its link to the US Dollar in the face of potentially lethal attacks from hedge funds in the summer of 1998 is a recent example. More to the point, the birth of the SAR, with Hong Kong people running Hong Kong, provided the platform on which to build new strategies for growth, prosperity and pride in a new identity as a part, once more, of our ancient nation. The onslaught of the Asian financial turmoil posed another unexpected challenge. It brought with it the chance to respond with the restructuring required to meet the ever-growing, ever-shifting demands of globalisation in the new century. Thus, while managing to contain the worst of the contagion, a series of long-term strategic co-ordinates has taken shape. For example:
At the start of the 21st century, the Administration was preparing a framework for Hong Kong's development over the next 30 years. It is the product of a two-year study by the Commission on Strategic Development and encompasses a vision for a better quality of life for an energetic and progressive community in the critical areas of the environment, land use, harbour foreshore development, industrial policy, education, social provision and the range of quality of life issues. The commission's task was to set out the parameters for Hong Kong to become Asia's World City. Hong Kong has long been the meeting place of East and West. The roots of its internationalism are deeply and irrevocably embedded. These include its large expatriate population, an unrivalled network of international schools, the retention of English as one of its two official languages, its inheritance of the common law legal system, an apolitical civil service and its spectacular cross-cultural lifestyle. This cosmopolitan nature clearly underlines Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy under 'one country two systems'. Hong Kong is proud of its new place in China, but it is different to any other city in the Mainland. Therein lies its value to China: a bridge still between the Mainland and the rest of the world, and a window also for China's rapidly-evolving economy. China's accession to the WTO will enhance rather than diminish this role. As the Mainland adapts to the rules-based regime of the WTO, more and more international business operations will be looking to take advantage of its massive market potential. This will mean a bigger slice of a larger economic pie for Hong Kong. It will also mean an increase in the number of foreign businessmen and women who will want to leverage Hong Kong's unsurpassed cultural and economic links and its business connections in all parts of China, many of which are in the early stages of opening up to foreign trade and investment. Hong Kong already has a well-established presence in them, as well as in the established major centres of development. This new infusion of international interest and involvement will provide fresh impetus to Hong Kong's World City aspirations and further underline its value to the Mainland under 'one country two systems'. There is also a comfort level for the international community in Hong Kong's system of open and transparent government, with an executive-led administration being accountable to a fully-elected legislature. Less familiar is the internal contradiction within these arrangements whereby the executive does not have a governing party in the Legislative Council — it can barely rely on a single vote. At the same time, legislators are frustrated by their perceived lack of participation in the policy-making process. Fortunately, Hong Kong's constitutional document, the Basic Law, has a mechanism through which the community has the opportunity in 2007 to resolve this conundrum. It also lays down a timetable for a more directly representative Legislative Council with the ultimate aim of universal suffrage. Another round of elections for the Legislative Council is to be held in September 2000. As the Basic Law electoral timetable ticks on towards 2007, the question Hong Kong must ask itself is: are the present arrangements sustainable in the long term? If they are not, what would be better, more workable? These are profound questions, and the answers will require considerable political wisdom and subtlety. Above all, Hong Kong people will need to be willing to narrow their differences and arrive at a uniquely Hong Kong solution that will command the broad support of the citizens of the SAR. Unity, not division, will protect the SAR's autonomy under the 'one country two systems' principle. It is important to appreciate the context in which this takes place. Hong Kong people have generated astonishing success in the last 40 years. They are practical, down-to-earth and politically moderate. There is no real division of opinion over the economic philosophy which has been the foundation of Hong Kong's success. Since the transition, Hong Kong people have demonstrated how much they treasure the high degree of autonomy granted to them by the Basic Law. They have been quick to speak up on issues affecting their rights and freedoms and the rule of law. In doing so, they have also put their pragmatism on display. It is not their way to rock the boat, much less sink it. I anticipate a lively public debate to take place on the crucial issue of democratic development. At the heart of this debate will be the pace at which indirect elections through functional constituencies are phased out to reach the Basic Law goal of universal suffrage. It will be important to balance the interests of every section of the community and to arrive at a consensus so that all of our citizens feel they have an equal voice in the way they are governed. It would be extremely divisive to split the community into first and second class citizens. All of this means change, but coherent change that Hong Kong people can accept and identify with. There are, however, some things that make up the delicate fabric of Hong Kong society that will not change, except in the sense that they need to be enhanced and strengthened. I refer to the institutional and policy software that provides the foundations for Hong Kong's success: the rule of law, an independent judiciary; a clean and apolitical civil service; a maturing democracy; a level playing field for business; the free and unfettered flow of information and ideas; minimal government involvement in but maximum government support for the economy. These are the guiding lights that have consistently won Hong Kong recognition as the world's freest economy (for the sixth consecutive year by the Heritage Foundation and the 15th consecutive year by the Fraser/Cato Institutes). History has bequeathed to Hong Kong an unusually important role for the Civil Service, a role that has continued through the transition. The service has provided the necessary continuity. It is a meritocratic institution, based on commitment and ability rather than political patronage, and stands ready to be judged on its probity, the calibre of its decision-making processes and the quality and care of services it delivers to the community. The Hong Kong Civil Service has over the years adapted to many changes. With the reforms currently under way, its structure should be sufficiently flexible to respond quickly to changing community needs. A major challenge over recent years has been to keep pace with the evolution of a more dynamic style of government, in particular a more representative and demanding legislature and an always probing press. The Civil Service has responded well, and is ready to play its part in this evolutionary process in the years ahead. It is extremely important in this context for the Civil Service to maintain and enhance the values and culture it has developed over many decades. These traditions, in turn, have earned it recognition for its dedication, nimbleness and competence. The core values of political neutrality, and intellectual rigour, a willingness — indeed, a duty — to fearlessly give honest, balanced advice to superior officers, must be carried through to the SAR's future generations of civil servants. The community must be able to look to the Civil Service to implement faithfully 'one country two systems', without fear or favour. Decisions must be taken in the public interest, not vested interests. The watchwords for civil servants should be: "Speak Truth Unto Power". This will involve strength of character, clarity of purpose and leadership. These are the qualities expected of them from the public they serve. They will be helped in this by further developing their spirit of openness and transparency. Apart from the economy, the issue that has created the most interest — and controversy — in and outside post-Handover Hong Kong has been the rule of law. This is hardly surprising as the community instinctively understands, perhaps more than most, that the rule of law is the guarantor of its way of life. It is the dividing line, if you like, between one country and two systems. It protects the high degree of autonomy mandated to the SAR by the Basic Law. The landmark constitutional case involving the right of abode in Hong Kong of Mainland children with one Hong Kong parent led to an impassioned debate over the whole question of the SAR's legal autonomy and the authority of Hong Kong's supreme appellate judicial body, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA). Because of the Government's decision to seek an interpretation of the relevant Basic Law provisions from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), the SARG's commitment to the rule of law and legal autonomy came into question. This was the perception of some, not the reality. In the right of abode case, there is no doubt that the Government's action was legal and constitutional. Nor, despite concerns in some quarters, has it eroded the rule of law or undermined the independence of the Judiciary, as evidenced by unequivocal public statements on this question by a number of Hong Kong's most eminent judges. However, lessons of the recent past suggest that the SARG has to do more to remove doubts about where it stands on these matters. It must be hoped, for example, that circumstances do not arise again that prove so wholly exceptional — as they did in the right of abode case — that the SARG is left with no option but to make a referral to the NPCSC. The self-evident but powerful truth about the rule of law has been argued eloquently in an end-of-millennium essay by the British historian, Paul Johnson. His analysis of the last thousand years 'emphasises the importance of the establishment of the rule of law as the only secure basis for efficient government, under which men and women can go about their business in peace'. He added that: "Human beings are fantastically ingenious creatures, and usually industrious too. Given reasonably stable and just government, there is no limit to what they can achieve in time." Johnson goes on to cite Hong Kong as one example of how small places with virtually no resources have created stability, and the good life for most of their citizens, by using their brains, not least by devising minimalist systems of government which work. All of this is well understood and fully shared by the SAR Government from top to bottom. This will not of itself put an end to controversy and public debate over contentious legal and constitutional issues. Such differences, honestly argued by men and women of goodwill, are the meat and drink of a plural society. It is fitting — and somehow very Hong Kong — that the end of the millennium and the beginning of a new century should see a turnaround in the economic fortunes of the SAR. The remarkable year-end and first quarter GDP growth figures signalled a dramatic economic rebound. This has come about to a large extent because Hong Kong people kept their nerve through the testing times of the transition and the economic turmoil that hit the region within 24 hours of the Handover. The Asian financial crisis was the latest in a long line of obstacles placed in the path of this unlikely place. It bodes well for the future that the people who have always made the dynamo of Hong Kong hum have once more showed their resilience, common sense and the patience to wait for the arrival of greener pastures and brighter days. |