Revue de presse du 8 mars 2010

 Vice-President Xi Jinping calls for rational discussion on political reform

The papers in good coverage, with some in their inside-page leads, quoted Vice-President Xi Jinping as saying yesterday that HK people should respect and understand accurately the Basic Law, adding that HK’s high degree of autonomy was empowered by the Central People’s Government.

Mr Xi hoped that HK people would attach importance to the overall situation and discuss rationally in pushing forward the constitutional development in the SAR, many papers reported, quoting Xinhuanet and Xinhua News Agency.

National People’s Congress local deputy Maria Tam quoted Mr Xi as saying at a meeting with the local deputies in Beijing yesterday that HK deputies to the NPC should explain the BL to the people in a way which was in-depth and easy to understand to enhance rational discussion on constitutional reform.

National People’s Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan said Mr Xi’s remarks had made her associate his remarks with the de facto referendum, adding that the BL had not empowered HK to conduct any « referendum ».

Civic Party’s Alan Leong said Mr Xi’s comments amounted to a « threat » to HK people, warning them not to vote in the by-elections, but the de facto referendum was something that was not banned by the law.

Commentator Johnny Lau took the view that Mr Xi’s remarks showed that the Beijing leadership did not fully understand the situation in HK, the SCMP reported.

He said the leaders thought that HK people did not fully understand the BL because some of them did not hold the same views as those of the leaders, but it was rather clear that the so-called « referendum » was only supported by a small group of relatively more radical democrats and was not the common stance of HK people.

In good coverage, the papers (7.3) quoted Liaison Office director Peng Qinghua as saying at a meeting with the NPC local deputies in Beijing on Saturday that the de facto referendum, together with the use of « uprising » and « liberating HK » in its slogans, was a challenge to the BL and violation of mainstream public opinions to seek stability and harmony.

The papers (7.3) also noted that CE Donald Tsang had met with Mr Xi in Beijing on Saturday night, discussing the latest economic and social situation in HK. It was understood that the CE had also reported the latest development on HK’s constitutional reform.

Describing the de facto referendum as a « farce » and a waste of public money, Mrs Fan said she would not vote in the by-elections.

NPC local deputy and FTU chairman Cheng Yiu-tong said the de facto referendum was tantamount to challenging the CPG. If the HK community continued to argue about the constitutional reform issue, the city’s future development would be affected, he added.

Chinese People Political Consultative Conference Standing Committee member cum New World China Land chairman Henry Cheng said he hoped the pan-democratic legislators would not vote down the Government’s constitutional reform proposal this time. He took the view that the FCs should be retained and that a balanced participation should be maintained in the mechanism.

League for Social Democrats chairman Andrew To believed that Mr Peng’s remarks might provoke people’s intention to vote in the by-elections.

Meanwhile, Apple Daily (7.3) reported that the LSD and the Civic Party would soon enhance the publicity on the de facto referendum to say that the upcoming polls were not merely by-elections but a chance for people to express their demands for universal suffrage, hoping that the voters would understand the importance of voting in the by-elections.

The papers (6.3) noted that Mr Tsang said in Beijing on Friday that the SARG would be putting all efforts into seeing whether there was a middle ground to put across a package on electoral reform acceptable to both HK people and the legislature. This required compromise as well as reasonable and rational steps, he added.

 Henry Cheng backs return of HOS

The papers widely reported that New World China Land chairman Henry Cheng had called for relaunching the HOS, holding that the Government had a duty to take care of the housing needs of the lower middle-income families. The story was the front-page lead in HK Daily News and Ming Pao.

Conceding that from the perspective of the whole society, the development of the property market in HK was unhealthy, Mr Cheng, who was attending the CPPCC meeting in Beijing, believed that such a move would not have an impact on private property prices as the Government could control the pace of supply.

He was of the view that the resumption of building Home Ownership Scheme units could help ease public discontent and that it would lead to a more healthy property market in the long run even though from the perspective of a developer, he could not agree with relaunching the scheme.

He believed that the shortage of supply in small to medium-sized flats could be resolved if the Government restricted the land use in some plots putting up for sale to the construction of these types of properties.

Exco member Anthony Cheung, who supported relaunching the HOS, maintained that the scheme would have little impact on the private housing market. He understood that while the Government had no plan at this stage to resume the scheme, it did not mean that it would not consider the plan.

Federation of HK, Kln and NT Public Housing Estate Resident and Shopowner Organisations chairman Wong Kwun believed that relaunching the scheme could cool property prices and quell people’s grievances. He suggested the Government to keep the supply to under 6,000 units per year.

In another development, the HK Economic Journal in its front-page lead reported that Mr Cheng had denied that New World had « trumped up » the prices for properties of a joint venture housing project with Urban Renewal Authority in Tsim Sha Tsui.

He clarified that the high prices were approved and insisted upon by the authority. He also took the view that the URA should only confine its area of responsibility to land resumption and should not get excessively involved with developers in their exploration of new areas for development.

URA chairman Barry Cheung, however, maintained that the prices were suggested by independent surveyors and were in line with the market prices.

 FS warns of uncertain economic outlook in second half of 2010

Some papers in routine to moderate coverage reported that Financial Secretary John Tsang had called on HK people to stay alert as the economic outlook remained uncertain and problems occurring in the traditional markets might cause difficulties in the second half of this year.

Speaking at RTHK’s Letter to HK, Mr Tsang said the $20 billion one-off relief measures proposed in the Budget would provide a financial cushion in the short term while in the longer term, the Government would sharpen the city’s competitiveness by promoting infrastructure development and clearing away obstacles so that the four traditional pillar industries and the six key industries could reach full potential.

Several papers (7.3) carried Mr Tsang’s blog article, saying that the city should maintain the principle of « big market, small government » to prevent the Government from over-expanding and affect the long-term financial health. He held that the cooperation among the Government, the business sector and the people should be strengthened to solve social problems.

 HKAB to propose ’unwind option’ in selling retail investment products

Several papers, including Ming Pao and the HK Economic Journal, in moderate coverage reported that the HK Association of Banks (HKAB) would propose an « unwind option » (選擇退出) introducing a one-day cooling-off period before the transactions to certain groups of investors of retail investment products.

The proposal was made in response to the Securities and Futures Commission’s earlier consultation on the introduction of a cooling-off period to allow elderly investors of structured financial products to withdraw their investment within seven days after the transactions.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority had later proposed a « postponed execution » (延遲執行) of transactions for three days to better protect investors of sophisticated financial products, the papers said.

Under the HKAB proposal, only inexperienced elderly or low education level investors would be qualified. It was suggested that the unwind option would only cover products that were not directly linked to the stock markets, such as funds, but not those with rapid price fluctuations, including stocks and foreign exchange trading.

The papers said the association would submit its proposal to the HKMA early this week. Ming Pao said representatives from the HKAB would meet with HKMA officials tomorrow to discuss the « unwind option » proposal.

Meanwhile, the papers in wide text and pictorial coverage reported that some 10 Lehman Brothers minibond investors yesterday protested inside GH which was opened to the public to view the blossoming azaleas. They had displayed placards to urge the authorities to solve the minibond saga. The Sun gave the story front-page lead treatment.

 Shanghai, HK are brothers : Shanghai mayor

The papers in moderate coverage reported the remarks by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, when asked about the building of another Disneyland in Shanghai, that HK and Shanghai shared a cooperative relationship, taking the view that they were like « brothers ».

On the competition between the cities, Mr Han said that HK now enjoyed its status as an international financial centre while Shanghai was still in the process of developing itself into one, adding that Shanghai could learn a lot from the SAR.

Secretary of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee Yu Zhengsheng described the relationship between the two cities as complementary and supportive. But he also took the view that competition existed.

On the cooperation between Guangdong and HK, Guangdong governor Huang Huahua said the province would foster greater cooperation in five areas, namely the further implementation of CEPA, enhancing cooperation in service industries and supporting HK invested enterprises on the Mainland in upgrading their facilities, the papers (7.3) noted.

The papers over the weekend accorded extensive coverage to the NPC and CPPCC annual sessions with highlights on Premier Wen Jiabao’s remarks in his annual government report, urging the HKSARG and its people to work together, accommodate and help each other.

Reports (6.3) widely noted that Mr Wen had expressed full support for HK’s new initiatives to develop the six major industries where the city enjoyed advantages. He also stressed that HK should consolidate and strengthen its status as an international financial, trading and shipping centre.

The HK Economic Times (6.3) quoted Mainland sources as saying that the CPG would clearly define the positioning of HK in the National 12th Five-Year Plan.

CE Donald Tsang said he was pleased to learn the Premier’s support for HK. He also agreed with the premier’s suggestions of enhancing economic ties with the Mainland, and fostering cooperation between HK, Macao and Guangdong.

 SAR officials conclude Taiwan visit

The papers over the weekend and today in moderate coverage reported that Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Stephen Lam and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau had concluded their three-day visit to Taichung City yesterday.

Mr Lam said a formal platform for cooperation between HK and Taiwan was almost ready with the setting up of the HK-Taiwan Economic Cultural Cooperation and Promotion Council and the Taiwan-HK Economic and Cultural Cooperation soon.

He added that the next target would be arranging for Financial Secretary John Tsang to visit Taiwan after the platform had been set up.

Mrs Lau said there was room for cooperation between the two cities in information technology, telecommunications and creative industries. She added that Taiwan enterprises could also consider making use of the financial services in HK to raise funds.

Morning News (2)

Speaking in an interview with R-1’s HK Today, SCED Rita Lau said the visit to Taichung City could help promote tourism in HK. She added that the HKSARG was exploring possibilities to help the Taiwanese to make use of HK as a platform to develop their businesses in both HK and Mainland China.

Noting that the HK-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation Promotion Council and the Taiwan-HK Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council would be established very soon, Mrs Lau said that the CEDB would participate actively in the councils.

’Acid throwing monster’ strikes again

The papers in good coverage reported that another acid attack had occurred in Sham Shui Po early yesterday evening, injuring at least one pedestrian. It was the fourth similar incident that struck the same district in nine months.

It was noted that a beer bottle containing « strong acid » was thrown from a building in Apliu Street just after a police vehicle patrolling the area had left. The police did not rule out the possibility that all four attacks were carried out by the same culprit.