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Opinion
Hong Kong’s 5-year plan plays it too safe
The series of anticipatory goals – only five out of 22 are binding – gives the impression of a cautious, not confident, government
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Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA.
For the first time, Hong Kong’s chief executive rolled out his policy address together with a five-year plan for the city. The much anticipated release of these two supremely important documents – the final policy address of John Lee Ka-chiu’s current term as well as the first five-year blueprint in the city’s history – cements a road map for Hong Kong for the next five years.
There were few surprises, although there shouldn’t have been. By combining the consultations for the five-year plan and the policy address, the administration made clear from the get-go the importance of Hong Kong aligning with the country’s plans – deepening economic integration, pushing ahead with the Northern Metropolis, leveraging Hong Kong’s traditional strengths, upgrading more of what we do well and supercharging our capacity to connect the country with the world.
There has been very little disagreement on the desired destination and none over the need for Hong Kong to deliver on expectations set in the nation’s five-year plan.
To that end, the chief executive has set goals in a range of areas. There are 22 indicators in Hong Kong’s five-year plan. Of these, only five have binding targets while 17 have anticipatory goals. Interestingly, it looks like the government has the most confidence in meeting environmental protection goals.
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