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| Tai Hay Lap, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from Hong Kong, speaking to a China.org.cn reporter in Beijing, March 4, 2017. [Photo/ China.org.cn] |
Tai Hay Lap, a Hong Kong political advisor, said on Saturday in Beijing that he thought Carrie Lam was the best candidate for Hong Kong’s top job.
Tai, vice chairman of the Tin Ka Ping Foundation and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said he knew all three candidates seeking to become the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, “but, after comparing them, I would endorse Ms. Lam.”
On March 1, the election committee selected retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, former chief secretary Carrie Lam, and ex-financial secretary John Tsang to run for the Chief Executive’s post. The 59-year-old Lam secured 572 of the committee’s 1,200 votes – just 29 votes shy of the 601 needed to win the job. Meanwhile, Tsang and Woo got 160 and 179 votes, respectively.
Tai observed: “The Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Wang Guangya, has proposed four qualities for the next Chief Executive: [That person] must love the country and love Hong Kong; must have ability to rule; must win the trust of the central government; and must win the support of the Hong Kong public. In regard to each of the four aspects, Ms. Lam is the best.”
Lee Tak-lun, another CPPCC member and vice-president and CEO of Grand Finance Group, said he believed Hong Kong people and members of election committee would show wisdom in selecting the right person as Chief Executive.
Both persons believed that, on the verge of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, there were still many jobs yet to be completed by the region’s chief.
One is to do more to improve the recognition and identification of Chinese roots and culture among young Hong Kong people through education.
The two representatives are in Beijing to attend annual meeting of China’s top political advisory body, which will run through March 13.
“‘One country, two systems’ is an innovation,” Tai said of the constitutional principle formulated by the late Deng Xiaoping that Hong Kong and Macao could maintain for 50 years the capitalist economic and political systems, while the rest of China followed socialism; however it had not been “easy for us to make it thus far with the ‘One country, two systems’.
“Some young people never experienced what we went through before in Hong Kong, and never knew how the mainland helped us and always shows generosity towards us.”
He expressed cautious optimism for Hong Kong’s future, “Some young people in Hong Kong fear the challenges from the mainland and cannot see how the growth of the whole country is benefitting Hong Kong. The bad influence of some Western countries is here, too, so there are some negative voices. However, there’s only one China, and Hong Kong is the most diversified city in China in terms of development.
“Its development, whether [we talk] about the past or the future, is never about protectionism, but about breakthroughs and making the cake bigger.”
The Hong Kong Chief Executive election will be held on March 26, 2017 when the 1,200-members election committee will cast their votes.
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