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"Serving the country is my lifelong goal and pursuit and I'm pleased and proud to be a deputy of the National People's Congress (NPC)," said Wang Rudeng, a new NPC deputy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
Wang, 61, joined in the former Xinhua News Agency Hong Kong Branch at the age of 19. After the return of Hong Kong to the Motherland, Xinhua News Agency Hong Kong Branch was renamed to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR.
Wang, also assistant director of the Liaison Office, has been devoted to strengthening ties between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland and served as a bridge for both sides in the past 42 years.
"As an NPC deputy, I have got another channel to do this work," said Wang in an interview with Xinhua.
"Instead of working individually, NPC deputies will give full play to our team work," Wang said. "I will work closely with the other 35 Hong Kong deputies to fulfill our obligations."
Honored as he is as an NPC deputy, Wang feels the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
As Hong Kong is in a critical period of economic restructuring and integration with the Pearl River Delta, Wang said, the SAR's NPC deputies must make full use of their advantages and make greater efforts in promoting the ties between Hong Kong and the mainland.
During his work in the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Wang has organized visits to the mainland for many headmasters of different schools in Hong Kong.
The mainland needs the latest technology and absorbs talented people, Wang said, adding that as an NPC deputy, he will be engaged more in the cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland.
After the return of Hong Kong to China, local people are more concerned about the state affairs and have offered many valuable opinions and suggestions.
Wang said he will actively collect the opinions of Hong Kong people and hand them in through the NPC.
Moreover, Hong Kong people are keen on the development of the mainland and offered financial aid to many poverty relief programs and helped many poor students return to schools in the mainland. Wang hoped to render better assistance in this regard.
Over the years, Wang has been active in Project Hope and handled dozens of programs, serving as an important bridge in helping Hong Kong donors find proper programs and offer financial aid to poor mainland students.
Talking about the work of Hong Kong's NPC deputies, Wang said that under the "one country, two systems" principle, the Hong Kong NPC deputies could not interfere in affairs that the Hong Kong SAR government shall administer on its own.
However, they are able to participate in the SAR affairs on the capacity as Hong Kong citizens, safeguarding the national unity and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and supporting the SAR government to administer in accordance with the law, said Wang, noting that the two aspects do not contradict with each other.
Wang said the 10th NPC deputies of the Hong Kong SAR were elected in a transparent, fair and impartial way and the elected deputies represent the cream of all walks of life in Hong Kong.
The new NPC deputies are well aware of their responsibilities and they will cooperate and work as a team in the following five years, Wang said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2003)
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