Chief Executive John Lee took just under three hours to deliver his policy address. He mentioned a few major initiatives – notably the ‘Northern Metropolis’ – that aren’t new. Some minor positive measures, including free high-tech prostheses for amputees, and less red tape for food outlets. Some banal obscurities, such as allowing dogs in restaurants. And a load of desperate (or optimistic) proposals to boost the economy, involving yachts, AI, gold, green (!) maritime fuel bunkering, Greater Bay Area intermodal something, streamlining license applications for Low Earth Orbit satellites, and encouraging tokenized assets, tokenized deposits, tokenized money market funds and tokenized bonds, with help from a supervisory sandbox.
Hong Kong’s fundamental challenge is accepting and adapting to a world in which the Mainland’s post-Mao economic boom – the huge easy skim – is over. Which doesn’t bear thinking about. So frenetic micro-management it is.
Joel Chan lists the hubs…
• “premier international hub”
• global hub for AI development
• bond market hub
• RMB business hub
• gold reserve hub
• international logistics hub
• international aviation hub
• GBA transit hub
• top cargo hub
• international legal hub
• international education hub
• international hub for high-calibre talents
• Asia-Pacific hub for innovative low-altitude applications
• premium arts trading hub
• fashion design hub
• yacht hub in Asia
• international culinary hub
Wasn’t there also a reference to an ‘immersive, thematic travel hub’? Something to do with halal food? Or maybe I dreamt it.
… “money laundering hub…”
And just after he announced the dogs-in-restaurants thing, some 20 dogs burned to death in a fire in a (probably) illegal breeding shed in the NTs. I wouldn’t take my dogs into a local restaurant anyway – wouldn’t want them to pick up any bad manners like barking with their mouths full.
@young winston
If it was an animal breeding location, illegal or otherwise, then dying is probably the best thing for the poor bastards. Looking forward to the full weight of Hong Kong Law in all its Majesty being brought to bear on the owner.
Not to mention the HK$120bn-budget-deficit hub:
https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1823318-20250917.htm
Did nobody mention his magnificent tie? I’m surprised anyone could focus on what he said. So … metaphorical.
Dogs should be allowed in restaurants.
They’ve got personality, and personality goes a long way
So the government is aiming to promote Halal certification and canine culinary companions. That should be interesting since restaurants can surely only choose one or the other.
Years ago the Government abolished excise duties on wine (and later, beer) so that Hong Kong could become an international wine trading hub. The price of booze went down for about five minutes, and then the importers, Watson’s the wine merchant and the supermarkets started to pocket the savings for themselves. And prices shot up again. And lately, up up up….. Beer has never been so expensive before.
The Policy Address underlines that HK is effectively a Bubble Hub
Chapters:
1-9: Ra Ra preamble
10-42: 1C2S
43-54: Northern Metropolis
55-76: Industrial Reform
77-89: Integration
90-133: HUBS
134-205: MORE HUBS
206-289: Community
All the above totally irrelevant should the territory be subjected to a major climate change induced natural disaster.
Yet a search on the word ‘climate’ provided a mere two hits, both to the financial green washing carbon trading.
Under Green and Low-carbon Living Environment
235 – Develop Hong Kong into a Demonstration Base for Green Technology
236 – Enhance Charging Networks for Electric Vehicles
237/8 – Reduce and Recycle Waste to Achieve “Zero Landfill”
239 – Jointly Develop the Greater Bay Area into a Beautiful Bay Area
So no reference to any attempt to prepare the territory for the onslought and predictions of conditions such as hourly rainfall poised to increase by up to 40 percent in the next decade. On the contrary, many of the measures proposed will result in a deterioration of our current very week flood prevention assets as more mature treees are felled, hills are levelled, floodplains filled in and extensive reclamation of shorelines planned.
The PA is testament to an adminstration and community in complete denial of reality.
Hong Kong: The Hubbabaloo Hub
@Mary Melville
The reality deniers are those who believe changes in the world’s climate are caused by human activity rather than well-documented forces in the universe that have been occurring for millennia and that banning plastic straws is the answer.
Re Bjorn: While there is debate on the reasons for climiate change, there is no denying its impact. We feel it every day. A vulnerable coastal location needs to consider its impact and how to mitigate it.
A policy masturbation hub?
And Bjorn knows better than the consensus of most climatologists in the world. Sources Bjorn?