Carrie Lam: Only 'One Country, Two Systems' can break impasse

Carrie Lam, chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), delivered her third annual policy address via a video message on Wednesday, stressing that Hong Kong will continue upholding the "One Country, Two Systems" policy and safeguarding the rule of law.

Lam's address lasted 45 minutes, and it was the first time that a chief executive delivered the policy address through a video.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam poses with the policy address during a press conference at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019. [Photo: IC]

'One Country, Two Systems,' the only way out

"Although Hong Kong has been undergoing unprecedented unrest in the past four months, I have chosen to present this policy address on the scheduled date as planned," Lam said in the video.

Earlier, before the video released, Lam's speech was disrupted twice by some legislators, and the Legislative Council (LegCo) of the HKSAR had to halt the meeting.

Owing to the current circumstances, the chief executive was not able to deliver the entire policy address at the Legislative Council on Wednesday, a statement on the HKSAR government website said.

In the first part of her address, Lam said that many people were asking, "Will Hong Kong return to normal? Is Hong Kong still a place where we can live safely?"

Over 400 demonstrations, processions and rallies took place in various districts in the past four months, injuring more than 1,100 people and leading to over 2,200 arrests, according to Lam's address.

"During this turbulent and difficult period, we must firmly stick to the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy, and we can emerge from our current impasse," Lam stressed.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks at a news briefing at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The chief executive also outlined other principles to be firmly adhered to, such as the rule of law, Hong Kong's institutional strengths and the core values of Hong Kong — inclusiveness, integration and mutual respect.

"With our solid foundation, institutional strengths and the opportunities afforded by our motherland, as well as the perseverance and strong adaptability of Hong Kong people, I firmly believe that Hong Kong will be able to ride out this storm and move on," Lam said.

220 new initiatives, four aspects of work

Four aspects of work, namely housing, land supply, improving people's livelihood and economic development, were covered in Lam's address.

Housing

"After taking office, I immediately defined the positioning of our housing policy, indicating clearly that housing is not simply a commodity and that our community has a rightful expectation of the government to provide adequate housing," Lam said.

Legislation was proposed to levy "Special Rates" on vacant firsthand, private residential units to encourage developers to expedite the supply of completed flats and reduce hoarding, Lam's address said.

Lam proposed 5 billion Hong Kong dollars (just over 637 million U.S. dollars) to increase the number of transitional housing by 10,000 units in the next three years.

Land supply

In respect of the policy direction on land supply, Lam proposed a government-led approach to land and infrastructure use and the resumption of eminent domain, which would see unused private land being used for established public purposes.

Improving people's livelihood

Recurrent spending on welfare and healthcare has increased by 29 percent in the past two years, amounting to 164.9 billion dollars in the 2019-20 estimates, according to Lam's address.

She said the 152 new initiatives to improve people's livelihood announced in her last two policy addresses have largely been completed or are progressing on schedule.

Economic development

In the first half of 2019, the Hong Kong economy grew modestly by 0.5 percent year on year, the worst performance since the 2009 recession, Lam said, noting that the violent acts in recent months have aggravated the situation and pose an unprecedented challenge to the economy.