Hong Kong leader’s policy address is a promising start, but the city needs a transformative vision

Chief Executive John Lee’s first policy address showed the government understands its mission: bring back global talent, diversify the economy and cut policy inaction
But what is still missing is a sense of the values, principles and unique elements on which our city’s future success will be built

Brian Y. S. Wong

Published: 9:15am, 21 Oct 2022

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When Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu took office earlier this year, he was faced with a Hong Kong in dire need of repair and restoration. Two years of stringent quarantine restrictions, a pandemic-battered economy and escalating geopolitical tensions meant Lee’s administration could not simply rest on existing virtues.

The city that had always benefited from being China’s gateway to the world – and the world’s entry point into the 1.4-billion-people economy – faced challenges that were not merely transitory, but could be devastating to its future, if left to foment.

The policy address delivered on Wednesday was a testament to the administration’s resolve to take on many of these challenges.

The mass exodus of talent – induced by a combination of grievances over the seismic transformation of the city over the past few years, socioeconomic inequalities and general ossification of governance – was a notable red flag. The government clearly grasped that this was a problem.

The policy address proposed a basket of solutions, ranging from stamp duty rebates to new visa initiatives, paired with an aggressive public relations campaign abroad and attempts to address skyrocketing living expenses for young professionals.

Those who had waited decades for the government to grapple with the bureaucratic inertia underpinning the city’s housing crisis and economic stagnation found their calls partially answered. Pledges to increase efficiency, deliver more transitional housing and boost the medium-term housing supply and long-term land supply, were clearly outlined.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivers his first policy address at the Legislative Council on October 19. Photo: Sam Tsang

The problem of the city’s undiversified economy – a source of concern to those advocating that the government reduce its dependence on land sales while maintaining sufficient revenue – was tackled head-on. The policy address included vows to re-industrialise, invest more systematically in start-ups and innovation, and bolster the synergy between Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area.

For once, the Hong Kong government seemed cognisant of not just what the problems are, but also how urgently we need to solve them. These are encouraging signs, but they are not enough. What is missing here is a comprehensive, positive vision for where Hong Kong is headed, one that will resonate and cut across political divides.

Take youth disillusionment, a problem that is frequently reduced to questions of housing and job opportunities. While creating both more and better public flats, broadening career pathways and facilitating social mobility are helpful remedies, they are not enough.

What many Hong Kong youth crave is an establishment that will listen to and address their concerns about their city. They want an administration that treats them as active, conscientious residents whose values and vision for their neighbourhoods can be incorporated.

Achieving this would take systemic outreach efforts that bridge the gulf between the empowered elite and the disenfranchised public and which provide channels for measured and constructive critique to all.

Hongkongers walk across a zebra crossing in Hong Kong in December 2021. Photo: Getty Images

We must also talk about mental health. An estimated one in seven Hongkongers experience a common mental disorder at any given time. The problems are particularly acute among the youth, who have been subjected to vast trauma during the city’s recent transformation. The policy address notably pledged an increase in the number of community mental health clinics and a strengthening of mental healthcare for students.

Yet what is more acutely needed is for the administration to make sincere efforts to reconcile with those who do not see eye to eye with it. Conducting closed-door, small-group deliberations – where officials and residents speak on a level playing field – is a crucial step in rebuilding the fractured trust between different political camps.

With stability restored and the city on the path to reopening, now is the time to revive a genuine sense of pride in Hong Kong. This cannot be achieved through top-down education schemes, but through bottom-up courting of groups that have been left out.

The need for a vision also applies on a more externally oriented level. Hong Kong must carefully rethink its future as a regional hub. For whom is this city a hub? Could it wrest free of the conventional mould of being where China courts the West, and tap into the plethora of talent and capital in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa?

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There are talented people who will be drawn in by the incentives introduced by the government, but at the end of the day, candidates are likely to go to where they see real prospects for career advancement.

To flesh out our innovation industries, to bolster our strengths in the financial and legal sectors and to attract talent, the administration must work with leading industry practitioners and corporations to create a self-contained ecosystem that has both the breadth to accommodate a range of skill sets and the depth to enable aspiring individuals to go far in their careers.

Finally, preserving Hong Kong’s internationalism requires active, conscious effort. What kind of an international city are we aspiring to become 10 or 20 years down the line?

John Lee’s promises could start ‘new chapter’ for Hong Kong, but can he deliver?

Is it a city where the arts and music of all cultures and kinds can flourish, or one where dogma prevails over audacity in the cultural industries? Is it a trilingual city with residents proficient in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, or one where slipping linguistic proficiency renders us increasingly uncompetitive?

As we seek to emerge from the shadows of the past five years, what this city needs is a vision. Any complete vision for Hong Kong must answer the above questions. A transformative vision for the city requires a clear sense of the values, principles and unique elements that render this city the most international, open and cosmopolitan on China soil.

Hongkongers deserve that – and I hope that we are on our way there.

Brian Wong is a DPhil in Politics candidate at Balliol College, Oxford, a Rhodes Scholar (Hong Kong 2020), and the founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review

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