On Dec 18, John Lee Ka-chiu, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, went to Beijing for his second duty visit during his term of office. He reported his work to President Xi Jinping and received copious praise from him. Xi pointed out that Lee dared to take responsibility and resolutely safeguarded national security in the past year, and he fully affirmed his work. Xi also said, “Over the past year, you have led the government of the special administrative region with the courage to take on responsibilities, do well, resolutely safeguard national security, reshape the district council system, and successfully conducted the district council election. You have led Hong Kong out of the pandemic, ushered in an overall recovery, continuously enhanced Hong Kong’s development momentum, and strived to solve the people’s urgent, difficult and anxious problems. This has consolidated the general trend of Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to governance and promoted the transition from governance to prosperity. The central government fully affirms the work of you and the HKSAR government.” Xi added, “We fully support the chief executive and the SAR government in uniting and leading all sectors of society to seize the historic opportunities brought by the country’s development and promote Hong Kong to achieve better development.”

President Xi’s remarks reflect that his work requirements for the chief executive and the SAR government have always been highly consistent. On July 1, 2022, President Xi delivered an important speech at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the inauguration ceremony of the sixth-term SAR government. He expressed four hopes for Hong Kong: to further improve Hong Kong’s governance, to continue to create a strong impetus for growth, to address people’s concerns and difficulties in daily life earnestly, and for the people of Hong Kong to work together to safeguard harmony and stability. It can be said that under the current international, domestic and Hong Kong situation, President Xi specifically asked the SAR government to safeguard national security, improve the governance structure based on the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong”, achieve good governance, tackle Hong Kong’s deep-seated contradictions, improve people’s livelihoods and increase the well-being of the people, accelerate Hong Kong’s integration into the overall national development, and make good use of the advantages of “one country, two systems” to better contribute to the development of the country. President Xi is pleased with the efforts and results achieved by the SAR government in these fields over the past year.

The meeting arrangement of this duty visit has some crucial differences from the past, reflecting the further institutionalization and improvement of the duty visit as an institution. First, the president of China and the premier of the State Council no longer meet with the chief executive separately. Instead, President Xi presided over the meeting while Premier Li Qiang participated. Second, four of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) attended the meeting. In addition to President Xi and Premier Li, there was also Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Ding Xuexiang, leader of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the CPC Central Committee. This arrangement powerfully transmits several vital messages. First, the paramount leader in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs is President Xi. In addition to being the country’s president, Xi has a more critical identity — that of general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. As the ruling party, the CPC exercises overall leadership in China. The principle is that “the Party is the leader in everything from the Party, the government, the military, the civilian and education sectors, as well as everywhere from the east, the west, the south, the north, and the center.” Second, the CPC is the maker and overseer of the most important Hong Kong and Macao policies. In fact, in the past few years, essential approaches and deployments related to Hong Kong have been proposed and implemented by the CPC, especially the enactment of the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the thorough reform of the electoral systems of the chief executive, the Legislative Council, and the district councils, thus ending riots and turmoil in Hong Kong, ensuring that internal and external hostile forces can no longer incite unrest in the city, and building a Hong Kong SAR governance structure that realizes the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong”. Third, the CPC pays close attention to and steadfastly supports Hong Kong and will continue to formulate policies conducive to its development and invest more national resources for the successful practice of “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability under the Party’s overall planning and coordination. The recent establishment of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee enables the central government to formulate policies and measures to help Hong Kong more effectively and efficiently. Fourth, President Xi expressed his confidence in Hong Kong’s bright future. This confidence comes from his belief in Chinese-style modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A China that continues to become prosperous and powerful will inevitably provide endless development opportunities for Hong Kong. President Xi is confident that Hong Kong, moving toward good governance and prosperity, can firmly seize those development opportunities. Finally, President Xi has strict requirements, ardent expectations, and severe accountability requirements for the chief executive and the SAR government to ensure that the central government’s care and support for Hong Kong can be transformed into fruitful results in Hong Kong, and that the vitality and superiority of “one country, two systems” continue to emerge.

Through Lee’s duty visit, the CPC shows Hong Kong residents and the international community the central authorities’ deep care and strong support for Hong Kong

A spokesman for the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee pointed out that the adjusted duty visit arrangements reflect the great importance the central government attaches to the chief executive’s duty visit and the work of the SAR government, and are instrumental in improving the system and mechanism for the chief executive to be accountable to the central government, as well as conducive to better implementing the central government’s overall jurisdiction over the SAR. The central government’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong is consistent with the constitutional order of the special administrative region as determined by the Constitution and the Basic Law. It is compatible with the Constitution and the Basic Law.

Through Lee’s duty visit, the CPC shows Hong Kong residents and the international community the central authorities’ deep care and strong support for Hong Kong. This will help boost all parties’ optimism and confidence in Hong Kong’s future and inject a greater impetus into its development in the years ahead.

The author is a professor emeritus of sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and consultant, Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.