Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region (HKSAR), said Hong Kong has experienced a lot
in the past 10 years and these experiences have proved the
principle of "one country, two systems " a unprecedented
success.
"Hong Kong is now stronger, maturer, and knowing more about its
own future," said Tsang in Cantonese-accent Mandarin when
interviewed by Xinhua.
Wearing his trademark bowtie, Tsang said he began to learn
Mandarin when he was 45 years old. Though not perfectly fluent, he
tried to use Mandarin every time when interviewed by reporters from
the Chinese mainland.
Tsang said that Hong Kong experienced a series of difficulties
in the past 10 years, including the Asian financial crisis, bird
flu and SARS.
"Every event has caused some economically or socially changes in
Hong Kong, but we have survived all these difficulties," said
Tsang, adding that with the ups and downs, Hong Kong has enhanced
its capability in dealing with emergencies.
After the Asian financial crisis, Hong Kong's financial market
has become more resistible to international speculators' attacks,
and after the SARS, Hong Kong has upgraded its sanitary system and
now it is more capable of dealing with urgent sanitary crisis, said
Tsang.
"In Hong Kong, we could always learn about something in
everything," said Tsang, "the tradition will keep on. It's the
basic Hong Kong spirit that we 'never give up'."
Tsang, serving the Hong Kong government on different positions,
witnessed every change of Hong Kong in the past 10 years. In June
2005, Tsang was first elected as the chief executive of the HKSAR
when his predecessor Tung Chee Hwa resigned mid-way through his
second term due to ill health.
On March 25, 2007, Tsang won a landslide election for the third
term chief executive of HKSAR. He will begin serving his new term
on July 1, 2007, which will end on June 30, 2012.
He said that in the past 10 years, the central government always
stood by Hong Kong's side and gave an all-out support to Hong Kong
whenever it needed. In the meantime, Hong Kong's identity was
getting clearer day by day and Hong Kong residents are heartily
proud of the rapid development of the motherland.
"In the past 10 years, Hong Kong's life style, core value,
freedom, a fair society, everything Hong Kong citizen valued most,
is not weakened but getting stronger," he said.
He added that while keeping its own core value, Hong Kong is
contributing to the motherland in a lot of fields, for example, in
the financial development.
"Currently speaking, 'one country' and 'two systems' have both
been put into effect in Hong Kong and proved a success," he
said.
As for the linkage with the motherland, Tsang said that in
China's 11th Five-Year Plan, which outlines the
development of the whole country from 2006 to 2010, the central
government has set an accurate orientation for Hong Kong as keeping
its financial, trade and shipping center.
"The rapid development of the whole country has given a great
opportunity to Hong Kong," said Tsang. "It shows the support and
expectation of the central government to Hong Kong."
Tsang admitted that there will be competition between Hong Kong
and the Chinese mainland in some fields, but he added that Hong
Kong as an international financial center, 90 percent of its
economic power comes from service industry. Hong Kong's development
orientation will be different from that of the Chinese mainland and
it will always adjust itself according to the need of the market
and the development of the mainland.
"Everything I do, I bear the thought on how to get a 'win-win'
result for both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong," said
Tsang.
As Hong Kong's third term CE, Tsang has a detailed plan for the
city's development in the next five years. He said that he will try
to go out more to contact Hong Kong residents and let them fully
join in the work of the HKSAR government.
"I have the confidence to bring Hong Kong's development to a new
height in the next five years," said Tsang.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)