Official advises the Hong Kong SAR to continue to contribute to the nation

State Councilor Yang Jiechi expressed his hope that Hong Kong would preserve its prosperity, stability and development at a meeting with the city's deputies on Monday in Beijing.

Yang has been a deputy chief of the central leadership's coordination group overseeing Hong Kong and Macao affairs since 2013. Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), heads the group and met the city delegates earlier.

The meeting was closed to media. But prior to the meeting, Yang told reporters he would discuss the country's diplomatic developments with the city's delegates. Yang added: "Of course I am also highly concerned about preserving prosperity, stability and development."

Yang's remarks were later recapped by NPC deputy Maria Tam Wai-chu. The state councilor urged the deputies to fully and accurately uphold the "One Country, Two Systems" principle while safeguarding the authority of the Constitution and the Basic Law.

The city was advised to continue to contribute to the nation, promote economic development and improve people's livelihoods to maintain social stability and harmony, Tam added.

Most of Yang's speech was read out by Tam from a prepared document - except the part when Yang expressed fondness for Victoria Harbour. "He felt elated to see it every time, as he pledged full support for Hong Kong," Tam said.

Hong Kong's deputies addressed high-tech industry and the Sino-US relationship at the meeting.

NPC deputy and Executive Councilor of Hong Kong Cheng Yiu-tong offered a piece of advice in the open-door meeting held at a different venue in the afternoon. He said Hong Kong should launch national education in primary schools to overcome the influence of colonial rule prior to 1997.

Li Jinzhao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, also attended the morning meeting, where he said Hong Kong should improve its "friendliness" to tourists.

The two-way flow of visitors between the mainland and Hong Kong - about 125 million people in 2015 - was the world's largest in terms of volume, Tam quoted Li as saying.

The central government did not specify support for Hong Kong's tourism industry in the draft 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). But Tam said although the five-year plan did not go into details, there was no question of the central government withdrawing support.

kahon@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 03/08/2016 page8)