OPINION – Observations on the Duty Visit of Hong Kong and Macau Chief Executives to Beijing

The duty visits of the two Chief Executives of Hong Kong and Macau, John Lee and Ho Iat Seng, to Beijing shows that while the central leaders affirm their work, the two places are expected to work harder in strategic areas during the process of making more contributions to the Chinese renaissance.

On December 22, John Lee first met the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who fully affirmed the work of Lee and his government team, who adds that the center fully supports the local government’s policymaking, and who hopes that Lee can solidify the people of Hong Kong. Li praised Lee by saying that the Chief Executive’s work can bring about the people’s well-being. Accompanying Li’s meeting with John Lee were the Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, director of Hong Kong Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong, and Liaison Office director Luo Huining.

Li Keqiang pointed to the intertwined relations between Hong Kong and its motherland, and he hoped that John Lee’s government would lead the people of Hong Kong to integrate into the Chinese nation as a national strategy while fully utilizing the city’s unique strengths, especially in the areas of consolidating its status as an international financial, monetary, trade, aviation and shipping centers.

Decoding Li’s remarks, we can find that while the Chinese Premier heaped praise on John Lee and conferred a high degree of authority, legitimacy and recognition of his diligent work, Hong Kong is expected to do more in buttressing its status as an international financial, monetary, trade, aviation and shipping centers.

The mainland media covered one matter unreported in Hong Kong, namely Premier Li asked the Hong Kong government to discuss with Shenzhen and Guangdong authorities on an orderly process of achieving the goal of opening the border with the Hong Kong special administrative region. Before John Lee’s visit to Beijing, there were rumors that the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen would be opened as early as January 3.

(221223) — BEIJING, Dec. 23, 2022 (Xinhua) — Premier Li Keqiang meets with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee, who is currently paying a duty visit to Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

The message from the Chinese Premier showed that the matter would be left to detailed discussions between Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangdong – a message that was confirmed by John Lee when he returned to Hong Kong in the afternoon of December 24. With the positive signal and formal approval from the central government, it will be a matter of time that Hong Kong’s border with Shenzhen would be opened. When asked by the media about the date of opening the border, John Lee said on the late afternoon of December 24 that he set a tentative target around the middle of January.

On the same day of December 22, Li Keqiang also met the Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng. The Premier affirmed the work of Ho in formulating and implementing a series of “decisive measures,” including how to stabilize the economy, protect employment, benefit the people’s livelihood and allow Macau’s stable development. Such praise, however, was followed by some advice, as with how the Chinese Premier commented on the work of John Lee. Li added that Macau should continue to “wholly, accurately and resolutely” implement the “one country, two systems,” the principle of “Macau people ruling Macau,” and the implementation of policies in accordance with the law. Further, the Premier hoped that Ho and his government team will lead Macau to “overcome difficulties, embrace national strategy, actively perform in the cooperation zone with Hengqin, develop the economy and to improve the people’s livelihood.”

Li Keqiang’s expectations on Macau were specific, especially on how Macau should integrate with Hengqin as a national strategy, just like Hong Kong’s deeper integration into the Chinese mainland. Above all, Macau’s cooperation with Hengqin will have to be accelerated and concretized by the Macau government in collaboration with Hengqin and the provincial authorities in Guangdong. By implication, the Chinese Premier expects Macau to do a better job in its economic diversification without explicitly mentioning Macau’s gaming industry. Clearly, the Chinese Premier wants to see Macau to adopt concrete measures to implement economic diversification.

(221223) — BEIJING, Dec. 23, 2022 (Xinhua) — President Xi Jinping meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Ho Iat Seng, who is on a duty visit to Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

On December 23, the two Chief Executives met President Xi Jinping. During the meeting with Ho Iat Seng, President Xi entrusted Ho with renewed authority and legitimacy by praising him for his “stable governance, pragmatic work, the protection of social stability, the adoption of a learning spirit to study the gist of the 20th Party Congress, the stable management of the Macau gaming law revision and its related franchise bidding, and stable implementation of the Hengqin-Guangdong-Macau Deepening Cooperation Zone.” President Xi emphasized that the central government would “fully, accurately, and resolutely implement the ‘one country, two systems;’ and fully supports Macau to develop its strengths and specialness to create a new scenario of ‘one country, two systems’ with Macau characteristics.” Most importantly, President Xi expects Macau to contribute more to the process of China’s efforts at becoming “a fully socialist, modernized and strong nation.”

When President Xi met John Lee, the former heaped praise on the latter by saying that Lee leads the new government bravely and pragmatically, that he unifies different social sectors, that he resolutely protects national security, that he energetically recovers the economy, and that he responds to the concerns of the public. Moreover, the Chief Executive seriously learns and publicizes the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. In short, the central government fully affirms John Lee’s work.

President Xi added that the 20th Party Congress had made important strategic preparation for the Party and the country’s development. Under this context, the “one country, two systems” is a great innovation of Chinese-style socialism and it is the best arrangement of maintaining the long-term stability and prosperity of the two places. The central government, according to Xi, fully supports the policies of the Hong Kong government, backs up Hong Kong to develop its potential and strengths to engage international cooperation and to integrate with the mainland in a much better way, thereby making contributions to the process of achieving the Chinese renaissance.

Analyzing President Xi’s comments, we find that he heaped praise on the two Chief Executives, conferring upon John Lee and Ho Iat Seng a high degree of authority, legitimacy and recognition. Yet, the President expects both Hong Kong and Macau to contribute more to the process of Chinese renaissance by recognizing the significance of “one country, two systems” in China’s socialist development. Reading between the lines, the Chinese President exhorts the two Chief Executives to craft out their unique Hong Kong and Macau versions of the “one country, two systems,” implying that the central authorities’ next crucial step is to promote the Taiwan model of “one country, two systems” to the people of Taiwan.

(221223) — BEIJING, Dec. 23, 2022 (Xinhua) — President Xi Jinping meets with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee, who is on a duty visit to Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

In conclusion, the duty visits of John Lee and Ho Iat-seng to Beijing were politically significant. While Hong Kong is expected to change from chaos to emergence from now onwards, the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang expects Hong Kong to do more in buttressing its status as an international financial, monetary, trade, aviation and shipping centers – economic areas in which the John Lee government remains to be improved. Just days prior to John Lee’s visit to Beijing, the Hong Kong government published its developmental plan for youth and improvement blueprint for health care – clearly steps to ensure that the Chief Executive had done much work before he reported to Beijing on December 22. However, Premier Li tended to focus on the economic dimensions of Hong Kong’s strengths, while President Xi mentioned the central support for Hong Kong to expand its external economic relations – an implication that Beijing supports Hong Kong to join more international economic organizations. With regard to Macau, both Premier Li and President Xi did not say much about its gaming industry, but they praised Macau’s efforts at dealing with the gaming franchises. Both, however, expect Macau to do more work in its collaboration with Hengqin – an implication that Macau must move away from its overdependence on casino capitalism to real economic diversification. If so, Macau under Ho Iat-seng must work harder in this process of achieving economic diversification while integrating with Hengqin in a deeper and faster manner. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is expected to both integrate with the Greater Bay Area and the mainland while maintaining its international financial, monetary, trade, aviation and shipping centers – areas that have not shown many efforts in the first five months of the John Lee administration. The duty visits of the two Chief Executives show that Hong Kong and Macau’s developmental blueprints are now directly accountable to the central leadership in Beijing.