Hong Kong's leader vows to restore ‘political system from chaos’

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam has vowed to "restore the political system from chaos" in her annual policy address before the city's legislature, further offering economic recovery measures for the global financial hub.

"One of our urgent priorities is to restore Hong Kong's constitutional order and political system from chaos," Lam said in her lengthy speech on Wednesday.

"Hong Kong has undergone multiple blows that are unprecedented," she said, pointing to its social unrest last year, its shrinking economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and acts that "endangered national security."

"In the past year or so, Hong Kong has experienced the most severe political challenges since its return to the motherland," Lam said. "One of our urgent priorities is to restore... constitutional order and political system from chaos."

She pledged that her government would introduce bills to "enhance the oath-taking" by civil servants and to "enhance the electoral system," without elaborating.

She said her administration would reinforce patriotic education in the city and prioritize the "moral development" of youths and the strengthening of "their sense of national identity and awareness of national security."

Lam's address was delayed by more than a month to accommodate her high-profile trip to Beijing for talks on how China could help the financial hub's economic recovery.

Hong Kong's leader chastised foreign governments and parliaments for increasingly meddling in the city's local issues, which she emphasized were China's internal affairs, and said their interference was jeopardizing the country's national security.

The development came days after Beijing warned Washington and several of its allies against interference in Hong Kong's affairs, saying they "should face up to the reality" that the city had been returned to the mainland long ago.

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Lam said a plan to build vast artificial islands estimated to cost at least HK$624 billion ($80.51 billion) — the city's most expensive infrastructure project — was expected to move further along in the coming year.

The plan envisions building up to 400,000 housing units across 1,700 hectares of reclaimed land between Lantau Island, where the city's airport is located, and the main Hong Kong Island.

Lam said the government would relax investment limits for Real Estate Investment Trusts and remove the double stamp duty for commercial property transactions. Other economic measures included support for an iconic floating restaurant and offering dental treatment support for the elderly.

Western-sponsored protests in the city and then the coronavirus pandemic have battered Hong Kong's economy, with the full year gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to contract by 6.1 percent.

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