8 Thursday, March 29, 2018

COMMENT CHINA DAILY KONG EDITION

TO THE POINT HK should not worry too STAFF WRITER much about trade wars MPF o setting mechanism must go Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor burdens due to the scrapping of the o setting on Wednesday reiterated the special adminis- mechanism. trative region government’s determination to Now that the government has dug deeper into Eddy Li believes higher tari s by the US will not lead to a trade scrap the Mandatory Provident Fund o setting its own pockets, employers are expected to do mechanism. With ’s economy faring their part. They are morally obligated to do so. war of any great signifi cance, and with the nation’s support, well now and political bickering receding, this is Our workers have played a role that is as signifi - undoubtedly an opportune time for attempting cant as that of capital in building up the city’s to end the mechanism, which has pit workers wealth over the past few decades and driving HK is in a strong position to handle any future challenges against employers for years as it allows the latter the city to its current economic prosperity from to dip into the former’s pension funds to cover which businesses have benefi ted greatly. There is espite dissenting lion in a decade’s time. The US is severance and long-service payments. no justifi cation for workers to be denied retire- opinions, United an important market for China, but In the absence of a universal pension plan in ment protection. States President China, in turn, is also a competi- the city, the MPF is the only means of retirement The business sector has insisted on keeping Donald Trump tive partner of the US. And with the protection for many if not most Hong Kong the o setting mechanism. They have instead announced tar- Belt and Road Initiative facilitating residents. The scheme, launched in 2000, pro- proposed earlier to increase MPF monthly con- i s of 25 percent the process of international free vides limited retirement protection for around tributions by 1 percent, noting that the mecha- on steel and 10 Eddy Li trade and emerging new markets, 2.8 million employees and self-employed work- nism was the pre-condition for their acceptance The author is the president of Hong percent on aluminum imports on Kong Economic and Trade Associa- the US is less and less predominant ers. Unfortunately, the o setting feature has of the MPF scheme when it was introduced 18 MarchD 1. It has been said that these tion. for many economies, including the compromised the very purpose of this pension years ago. But the o setting clause shouldn’t new tari s will be around for a long mainland and Hong Kong. scheme to the great disappointment of many. have been adopted at the very beginning as it time. The latest move by Trump In addition, Hong Kong’s role in In a move that demonstrated the govern- undermines the very purpose of setting up the has caused concern in fi nancial the WTO might further ease con- ment’s resolve on and sincerity for solving the pension scheme. It was included only because of markets, sparking fears a trade war On one hand, some cerns in the business world. Hong long-standing controversy, o cials have report- the huge pressure from the business sector. might break out — including one commercial exchang- Kong was a founding member of edly come up with a new plan. This pledges to Moral responsibility aside, the business sector between China and the US. the WTO in 1995. After the hando- increase government’s subsidies to employers to should have no di culty realizing that doing To be honest, I believe a Sino-US es between the two ver, the special administrative wean themselves o dipping into workers’ pen- away the o setting mechanism will actually trade friction has been the elephant countries (China and region continued to be a full and sion funds to HK$17.5 billion from the HK$15 benefi t them in the long run. The removal of in the room for quite a long time separate member of the WTO in its billion Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po a major, long-standing confl ict between the for political and economic reasons. the US) may benefi t own right. Even after the mainland committed last month. As a result of the fund workers and the employers would go a long way The higher tari s are seemingly joined the WTO on Dec 11, 2001, increase, the subsidies would be good enough in enhancing social harmony — an important harmful to China, given that our Hong Kong, increas- “Hong Kong, China” was still in the to tide employers over a 12-year period instead element for maintaining the city’s prosperity country produces roughly half the ing the re-export organization as a separate customs of a 10-year period as previously proposed, and economic prowess, which in turn benefi ts world’s aluminum and steel. But a territory which enjoys a high degree signifi cantly reducing their additional fi nancial businesses. deeper analysis might reveal that volume of our city and of autonomy in the conduct of its the annual gross value of these external commercial relations. The metals imported from China is less boosting our econ- independent role of Hong Kong than $10 billion, making up only omy. On the other in the WTO indicates that the US a small proportion of the Chinese tari s that is going to a ect the mainland’s GDP of $11.2 trillion. Hong Kong can act as mainland will not have direct and Land should be used wisely The mainland is one of the econo- immediate impact on Hong Kong. mies most a ected and will respond a facilitator between Being spared serious losses in o cially to the US, but Hong Kong the US and the Chi- a potential trade war, Hong Kong won’t be hurt too much. can actually play a unique role in to enhance social well-being In our city, many worry that nese mainland... all this. On one hand, some com- as a free port, Hong Kong will be mercial exchanges between the two harmed by a potential trade war. countries may benefi t Hong Kong, ast Saturday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Hong Kong will be a ected to some lated the principles of the WTO; con- increasing the re-export volume of Cheng Yuet-ngor said at the Commission extent, as re-exports are one of our sequently, the US government faced our city and boosting our economy. on Poverty Summit 2018 that resolving main sources of income for which a $2 billion fi ne. Sixteen years later, On the other Hong Kong can act the housing problem was an essential the Chinese mainland and the US the international economy has never as a facilitator between the US and Lpart of poverty alleviation. She said increasing are our largest markets. In this case, been so interconnected, and the US the Chinese mainland — as we have land supply was the prerequisite to addressing any trade tensions between these has gone through several economic done in the past. The higher US the housing problem in the long run. two economies will inevitably a ect downturns over the years. How can tari s proposed by Trump are little The day before, Wang Zhimin, director of the Paul Yeung our city. I personally don’t think the US turn the tide this time? di erent from what happened in Liaison O ce of the Central People’s Government The author is research o cer at the One Country we should panic as long as our Second, we don’t have to be too the 1990s, when China was not yet in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Two Systems Research Institute, Hong Kong. strengths remain. anxious as the nation is always the a member of the WTO. During that told the chief executive and some 330 senior spe- First of all, I don’t really think a strongest supporter of Hong Kong. time, Hong Kong’s industrial and cial administrative region government o cials trade war will start. In March 2002, The mainland is already a very pow- trade sectors had to negotiate with that President Xi Jinping had said the develop- then US president George Bush erful economy, totally di erent from American authorities for the most- ment of the Hong Kong and Macao SARs and the To make full use of the com- implemented a three-year tari for when it fi rst joined the WTO. The favored-nation treatment toward well-being of the people of the two regions weighs mercial advantages of Sha Tau steel imports. His reasons for doing current annual volume of bilateral the Chinese mainland. heavily on his mind. In addition, Xi emphasized this were similar to Trump’s. Conse- trade between China and the US is We’ve been through worse times the importance of seizing opportunities brought Kok Chung Ying Street and quently, the tari lasted only for 22 almost $600 billion, more than 200 and the fl exibility and perseverance by the development of the Guangdong-Hong its precious land resources, months. This was because the tari s times the volume in the 1970s. This of Hong Kong people has never Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and urged Guang- implemented by US authorities vio- fi gure is estimated to exceed $1 tril- failed us before. dong to accelerate the implementation process of the SAR government should the project. The two issues mentioned by Lam and Wang be more open-minded. Editor’s note: China Daily Hong Kong Edition has launched a photo-sharing campaign at Instagram. You are indeed interrelated. On the one hand, the can share your photos by tagging #hk24hr, and we’ll choose the best ones to publish in the newspaper. experience of Hong Kong’s time-consuming land development process taught us that the land However, with the rapid growth of the mainland and housing shortage in Hong Kong cannot be economy and implementation of the Individual Spring’s here resolved by the SAR alone. On the other hand, the Visit Scheme which allows mainland residents development of the Bay Area provides a golden to visit Hong Kong and Macao on an individual opportunity for Hong Kong to ease its land short- basis, Chung Ying Street, an old shopping para- age problem. dise, has gone through drastic changes. The One of the possible solutions to land scarcity number of visitors has dropped from a peak of is to develop the cross-boundary areas between around 100,000 to a few thousand and profi tabil- Hong Kong and . The development of ity of the shops operating there has fallen as well. the Lok Ma Chau Loop area is a good fi rst step. Meanwhile, unscrupulous business practices such The most important lesson from the Lok Ma as selling inferior goods and cheating customers Chau Loop project is that there are valuable land have increased in Chung Ying Street. Moreover, resources which were under-utilized in the past. the decline of business there has also a ected With the determination and cooperation of both commercial activities in Market, Hong Kong and the mainland governments, these wherein business and community activities have land resources can be released and developed been shrinking. for Hong Kong people’s well-being. In the near Inconvenient transportation has also taken future, there will be another major cooperation a toll on business activities in Sha Tau Kok project at Chung Ying Street, with the potential Chung Ying Street. Residents in both the Hong to develop into a Greater Bay Area Quality Shop- Kong and Shenzhen sides of Sha Tau Kok rely ping, Tourism and Culture Area. heavily on buses as their primary mode of Chung Ying Street in Sha Tau Kok is a signifi - transportation, but it takes more than 2 hours cant but unfamiliar area to many Hong Kong to travel by bus to Sha Tau Kok from Cen- people. As a consequence of leasing the New Ter- tral, Hong Kong and 1.5 hours from Fu Tian, ritories to Britain, the street is about 250 meters Shenzhen. Both trips involve multi-transfers; long, and 3 to 4 meters wide, jointly owned by worse, it is a common sight at peak hours that Hong Kong and Shenzhen. heavy tra c jams at the Wutong Mountain tun- At present, Chung Ying Street is the only open nel in the Shenzhen side clogs the roads to and boundary in Hong Kong that has no border con- from Sha Tau Kok. trol facilities but allows cross-boundary activities The underdevelopment of Sha Tau Kok of people and goods. Chung Ying Street is a typical example of a In the 1980s, Chung Ying Street was a well- waste of land resources in Hong Kong. To make known business street in Hong Kong and full use of the commercial advantages of Sha Shenzhen boundary areas. At present, it is unable Tau Kok Chung Ying Street and its precious to realize its commercial value due to its small land resources, the SAR government should be economic scale, low attractiveness of products more open-minded. It should actively explore An elderly man puts the fi nishing touches to his painting of blossoming cotton trees near Shek Kong Barracks in Fanling. and poor facilities. Commercial development in all possible strategies for further development @CARMAN.PANG.33 / INSTAGRAM Chung Ying Street is relatively slow and chaotic. of this district.