President Hu Jintao attended a gathering marking the 10th
anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China and the inauguration
of the third-term government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday morning.
At about 9:00 AM, Hong Kong police band played the national
anthem to kick off the celebration.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang went to the podium first to take
his oath, administered by President Hu.
Principal officials of the third-term HKSAR government and
members of the Executive Council also took their oaths.
After the inauguration, Tsang addressed the gathering,
expressing his gratitude to the central government and Hong Kong
citizens for their support for the third-term HKSAR government, and
vowing to go all out to do his job well.
"I solemnly pledge to do my utmost to get my job done in the
best interests of Hong Kong and our country, as I promised during
my election campaign," said Tsang.
Tsang said in the next five years, the HKSAR government will try
its best to build a government that is more open, develop a system
that is more democratic, promote a new mode of economic
development, create a better quality of life, and promote a new
caring culture.
President Hu delivered a speech after the inauguration.
In his speech, Hu first extended cordial greetings to all the
people in Hong Kong, and warm congratulations to Tsang, his team
and members of the Executive Council who had just been sworn
in.
Then, Hu recalled the history of Hong Kong's return to the
motherland.
He paid tribute to Deng Xiaoping who creatively put forward the
concept of "one country, two systems" and personally oversaw
China's negotiation with Britain on Hong Kong and the drafting of
the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR, and to Jiang Zemin who made
historical contributions to the smooth return and transition of
Hong Kong and the successful implementation of the "one country,
two systems" concept.
Hu said Hong Kong's success over the past 10 years shows that
Hong Kong people are fully capable of managing Hong Kong well and
sustaining its growth.
During the past decade, the two chief executives, Tung Chee Hwa
and Donald Tsang, with the full support of the central government
and the mainland, led the HKSAR government and people in
encountering such grave challenges as the Asian financial crisis
and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Hu
said.
"They upheld the overall stability of Hong Kong, revitalized
Hong Kong's economy, and Hong Kong has made great progress in all
fields of endeavors," Hu said.
Hu said Hong Kong has obtained much experience for the cause of
"one country, two systems."
The president summarized the experience into four major points,
namely, fully appreciating and implementing "one country, two
systems", strictly complying with the Basic Law, giving high
priority to promoting economic development and improving people's
well-being, and upholding social harmony and stability.
Hu pledged that the central government will firmly support the
chief executive and the government of the HKSAR in exercising
government power as mandated by law, fully support Hong Kong in
promoting economic development, improving well-being of the people
and developing democracy, vigorously promote exchanges and
cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in economy,
education, science, technology, culture, public health, sports and
other fields, and actively support HKSAR in conducting external
exchanges, he added.
"All the central government policies concerning Hong Kong are
designed to promote the interests of Hong Kong and its people and
create a better future for Hong Kong and its people," he said.
Sunday's celebrations began with a flag-raising ceremony, which
was attended by more than 1,000 people, including Tsang, and will
end with a grand fireworks display in the evening.
President Hu arrived in Hong Kong on Friday and?left later
on Sunday.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2007)
